Monsters and Fire
by Redhead and proud
Summary: The Experiments, a group of Superhuman teenagers with unique abilities, embark on a search for answers. Led by Phoenix, the adopted daughter of Natasha and Clint, and with the help of one of the New Avengers and a stranger with a metal arm, The Experiments face dangerous challenges as figures from the past resurface, and they are hunted by Monsters and Fire. Sequel to Ice and Fire
1. The Base

**A/N: Holy shit HI! I'm back again for the third story in my Phoenix series. Welcome old readers and new readers both, if you didn't know the first story in this series is Love and Fire, and the second story is Ice and Fire. You can read both of them by going over to my profile page and looking at my works. Anyway back to this story, it is set during the events of Age of Ultron, not after or before, DURING. Phoenix and The Experiments are back, now unlike my other two stories, this doesn't feature Clintasha. This story mostly focuses on my OCs, but there will be appearences from a multitude of mainstream MCU characters. I'm so excited for this story, and I hope you all like it. Don't forget to read, review and enjoy.**

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A figure lay on the ground, flat on their stomach, eyes scanning the surroundings. They kept their face low to the ground, fluttering the grass as they exhaled a quiet breath. The figure had a slim feminine form, but her body was strong. Long red hair was tied back off her pale, rounded face. Dark blue eyes never moving from the target in front her.

Phoenix Romanoff sucked in a breath of night air. She was perched atop a hill, looking down over the crest, observing the small concrete building with caution. Phoenix's hand subconsciously went to the arrow necklace around her neck as she took in the details of the building. When Clint had handed it to her, he told her that it meant he would always be there to protect her. Not that she needed much protecting, but the thought of it brought her comfort.

Close to a year and a half ago, Phoenix had been saved from death by Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton. Known to the world as Black Widow and Hawkeye, members of the superhero team, The Avengers. At first they had been her mentors, but a year ago, they become her legal guardians. Phoenix still couldn't bring herself to see them as her mother and father. She'd never had parents before in her life, it was uncomfortable calling them that. But they were as close to a family as Phoenix would ever get.

Phoenix gave a hand signal to the person waiting for her among the coverage of the trees. They signalled back, and Phoenix dropped her arms to her side and rolled down the back of the hill. Once she cleared the hill, she crawled with her body low to the ground. Strong arms helped pull her to her feet once she was behind the tree line, and Phoenix looked up to see Sam grinning at her.

"Nice one commando," Sam joked in his deep southern accent, placing a hand on her shoulder as they walked away from the tree line, seeking more coverage.

Samuel Lidsdale was tall and muscular with a strong jawline, giving him a misinformed threatening appearance. His true personality could be seen in his soft brown eyes, usually hid behind glasses, but for the mission he had opted for contact lenses instead. Pushing back the fringe of his dark brown hair, Sam gestured to the person who had just appeared in front of them.

"Bella," Phoenix addressed her. "Where's Heather and Mark?"

Isabella Mason was small in stature, but not in her personality. Her previously long black hair now rested on her shoulders in a neat haircut, framing her porcelain pale face. Her narrow dark eyes looked from Phoenix to Sam, an exasperated look forming around her thin lips.

"Arguing," she informed Phoenix with a sigh. "Again."

Phoenix gave a grunt of annoyance and walked past Bella, her eyes falling on two individuals up ahead. The two people were angrily hissing at one another, trying to keep their voices quiet as they squabbled. As they saw Phoenix approach, the argument died down and they turned to look at her.

Marcus Winters stood to attention, but wore a cheeky grin on his face as he gave her a mock salute. Tall, and pushing the line between athletic and gangly, Mark and his personality were ones to stand out in a crowd. He had dark hair, and electric blue eyes that stood out against the contrast of his pale skin.

Heather James watched Phoenix closely, fixing her friend with a guilty look. Heather was of supermodel height with an athletic body and feminine frame. Her blonde hair fell in curls that usually framed her face, but had been tied back into a neat bun, out of the way for the mission. She had hazel eyes and tanned skin with little imperfections.

"Is there an issue?" Phoenix asked them, knowing full well of the animosity between the two of them. "We're in the middle of a mission, if you two can't keep a lid on it you'll compromise the whole operation. Sort yourselves out."

"Mark thinks we should charge the building instead of waiting around," Heather informed her, casting a bitter glance in Mark's direction as she spoke.

Phoenix flicked her unamused gaze to Mark and he chuckled nervously. "I didn't say that," he covered himself pathetically. "I was merely suggesting that we use the element of surprise, and take out most of them in one go. It was just a suggestion!" He raised his hands defensively.

"If you have a problem with the plan you come to me!" Phoenix snapped, keeping her voice to a low hiss. "The time to offer suggestions was yesterday when we came up with the idea. We're sticking with the plan, and we're waiting until Josh gets back. Honestly, I think you're just picking fights with Heather for the sake of it."

Mark looked outraged. "It was mostly her fault," he exclaimed, jabbing a finger in Heather's direction.

"My fault!" Heather cried, placing a hand over her chest as she repeated Mark's words in outrage. "You're the one that opened your mouth in the first place, and while we're on the subject, you did the exact same thing last week when you-"

Heather was cut off when Phoenix shushed the both of them harshly. "We are on a mission," she reminded them angrily. "Save it. You can tell me all about your childish disagreement later. But for now, we're sticking to the plan and waiting for Josh."

They nodded glumly, and just as Phoenix turned around, a figure appeared in front of her, inches from her face. While it may have looked like Josh materialised from thin air in less than a second, he had in fact simply made himself visible to those surrounding him. Phoenix didn't even blink as he appeared in front of her.

Josh had the gift of invisibility in simple terms. Somehow he was able to bend light around himself, therefore rendering him undetectable to the human eye of security cameras. The only way to see him, was usually with thermal vision. When he moved, he left no mysterious ripples in the air, it was nearly impossible to see him coming.

"You weren't even a little bit scared?" Josh asked in disappointment, taking a step backwards.

Phoenix ignored his question and moved onto the more important matter, the mission. "What's the interior look like?" She questioned. "How many obstacles do we need to worry about?"

Joshua Smith knew the time when to stop joking, and moved right into business at Phoenix's command. Standing at a height of 5'5, a single inch below Phoenix, Josh was known for being emotional. His facial expressions could range anywhere from anger to disgust, but his resting face was usually grumpy. He hid green eyes behind unkempt, dark blonde hair.

"Couple of guards at the entrance, couple patrolling the hallways," he informed her. "The server room is on the second floor, but on the third floor there are a lot of soldiers milling around. Once we're spotted, they'll enclose us on both sides. We need to keep to the shadows as long as possible."

"Right," Phoenix nodded. She turned to address her team and they formed a line in front of her, awaiting her orders.

They were her team, The Experiments. Each one of them with a unique ability, a superpower that set them apart from the rest of humanity. These abilities were the result of a serum that transformed them into what they were. They were the perfect strike force, and for a year now they had been conducting missions against dangerous forces that they found themselves pitted against.

Today, the enemy was Hydra

Phoenix looked up and down the line and directed her attention at Sam. "I need you in that server room to transfer the information. Bella and Josh, you go with him. Josh you'll scout ahead, making sure the way in clear, while Bella you stay at Sam's side and keep him shielded from view," she instructed them. "You'll make your way into the first floor and slowly creep up to the server room, once you're in, drop us a line. Good luck."

"You got it boss," Sam winked at her and moved off with Bella and Sam at his side.

Phoenix watched as they snuck around the tree line and vanished into the forest as they searched for an easy entrance. Phoenix turned to Mark and Heather and began to run through their segment of the plan. "Mark, you circle the building, note all entry and exit points. I may need you to clear us an exit path," Phoenix gave him his instructions and nodded, indicating for him to move off which he did.

Phoenix and Heather watched as Mark ran ahead at a speed close to 100 mph, his shape blurring as he moved at impossible speeds. The watched as he made it out of the trees in less than a second. In the blink of an eye, he probably could've made it to the other side of the building.

Mark's gift was one that allowed him to run at incredibly fast speeds. Thought it seemed like a simple ability, Phoenix knew that there was something more to it, as Mark also had the ability to transfer his gift. If he ran while holding onto someone, as long as contact wasn't broken, the other person could run at a speed equal to his. It was a constant puzzle for Phoenix, but not something she needed to address at that moment.

"Am I with you for this one?" Heather asked, moving to stand behind Phoenix.

"You'll be by my side," Phoenix responded with a small smirk. "We're going to wait until Sam gives the signal, and then we storm the building and meet them at the first floor stairs. Once we're together, we make our way out of the building as a group."

"Sounds good," Heather agreed with a grin.

The two girls waited, slowly, they slunk towards the tree line and crept in a circle, keeping hidden as they moved closer to the entrance of the building. Heather flanked Phoenix's right side, a hand on her gun as they crept with hesitant breaths, keeping themselves as quiet as possible.

Phoenix tapped at the comm in her ear, growing anxious for news from her team. Eventually, Sam's voice broke through. "I'm in the server room," he informed them. "It's quiet here, not a lot of soldiers that we had to take down, but I'm not taking any risks. I'll disable the cameras and then get to work on the pick-up."

"Acknowledged," Phoenix spoke, her voice lowered to a murmur.

Phoenix watched as a guard moved around the corner of the building, stood at the entrance for a second, and moved off, continuing his patrol. Seconds later, she received a conformation from Sam, and Phoenix and Heather nodded to each other.

Moving in tandem, the girls crept forward, dodging the lights that moved in a pattern to scan the surrounding area. They reached the door just as a guard came around the corner. Heather reacted instantly and drew her gun, firing a dart that hit the guard in his neck. The shot sent him to the ground as the specialised toxin entered his bloodstream and paralysed him.

"Nice shot," Phoenix complimented her as she looked the door up and down, trying to figure out a point of entry. "Stand back," she warned Heather while keeping her eyes fixed on the door.

Heather took a step backwards as Phoenix raised her hands, palms aimed at the door. A fire sparked in her palms and spread up her arms. She brought her arms backwards, and pushed them forward, the fire shot out from her hands. It hit the door with an explosive force, burning through the metal, it knocked the doors off their hinges and onto the open floor of the building's entrance hallway.

Phoenix, she had the gift of pyrokinesis. Phoenix could create fire from nothing and control and manipulate it in whatever way she wanted. She was also immune to burns, allowing her to set herself on fire, a trick she frequently put into action. Out of all The Experiments, Phoenix had refined her ability the most. Since she had undergone ten years of intense training, she knew how to manipulate her abilities in terrible ways. That was the curse of being a mad scientist's pet soldier.

"So much for subtlety," Heather commented at they stepped inside.

"We're way past subtlety," Phoenix retorted as a group of soldiers came running around a corner, heading straight for them.

Heather raised her hands, fingers outstretched towards the approaching men. She flicked her wrists abruptly, turning her hands. As she moved, the men's guns flew from their hands and hit the ground in front of them. Heather swept her right arm underneath her left arm, while she pushed her left arm forward. All the guns except for one, flew into the group of men with enough force to knock them backwards. The last gun flew into Phoenix's hands, and she caught it in a flash, turning the gun to the soldiers, she fired at them.

Heather was telekinetic. Her ability allowed her to move objects by using the power of her own mind, whatever she object she chose to move, she could do it. Larger objects of course, required more effort, but so far, there wasn't anything Heather hadn't been able to shift.

Once the hallway was clear, the girls ran to the stairwell quickly before any more came. Given the noise they had made, reinforcements from upstairs would be coming in. The girls reached the stairwell just as Bella and Sam came barrelling down it, leaping down the stairs, frantic to get away.

"Soldiers! Weapons! Time to go!" Sam exclaimed in a panic as he came screeching down the stairs and shot past Phoenix.

"What about Josh?" Phoenix demanded, remaining where she stood at the base of the stairs while the others took off down the hallway.

"He's holding them off!" Sam responded with a shout as he ran back to Phoenix and grabbed her hand. "He'll catch up. We need to go now!"

Phoenix had no choice but to run after Sam as he pulled her along. He let go of her hand as they rounded the corner and found themselves in the path of a large group of soldiers wearing black Hydra uniforms. They raised their guns prepared to fire as Phoenix shouted to Bella. Bella dropped her arms to her side and stood in a ready stance. She twisted her hands, and the room was plunged into darkness.

Bella's ability essentially allowed her to control 'darkness'. She was able to purge light from a room, which meant you could see nothing, even your own hand when it was right in front of you. She could also formulate what Phoenix called a 'light-consuming' mist. The mist moved as Bella controlled it, and anyone caught in the mist would be unable to see any form of light.

The Experiments moved into action, gliding through the darkness as they took down the Hydra soldiers. They moved as if they could see through the all-consuming blackness, when really, it was their connection that kept them alive amidst the frantic gunfire of the soldiers.

From the serum, The Experiments had somehow become connected through a mental link. They weren't entirely sure of how it worked, all they knew was that as a result of the mental link, they could feel each other's presence, identify each other's emotions and operate as a single force. Out of all of them, Heather maintained the strongest connection. They weren't sure why this was, but while the others struggled to feel each other at times, Heather never had any trouble.

Phoenix gained speed as she ran down the hallway, and dropped to the ground, her momentum sliding her across the floor as a Hydra soldier went flying over her head. Phoenix's legs connected with the ankles of a soldier and he went down, only to be shot by Heather as she ran past.

Heather charged at another soldier who was firing his gun wherever he heard noise. She leaped at him and threw herself onto his back. Her hands finding his neck, she pulled him backwards until both she and him hit the wall. Heather brought her elbow upwards and rammed it into the soldier's ribcage. As she pushed herself off him, she wretched the gun from his grip and fired at what she hoped was his legs.

Light hit them once again with a nauseating shock as Bella finished off the last soldier and deemed it safe to reinstate the lights. A scream came from around the corner and they turned to see Josh turn the corner, now visible, and running towards them as fast as possible in a panic.

"THEY'RE COMING! THEY'RE COMING! THEY'RE COMING!" He screamed. "THEY'VE GOT A FUCKING MISSILE LAUNCHER!"

At the words missile launcher, the group reacted sensibly, and turned on their heels and took off in the direction of the exit. Phoenix placed a hand to her earpiece. "Mark!" She shouted at their missing member over the comms. "We need to leave now. Clear the road!"

The Experiments rounded the last corner to find Mark leaning against the wall with several unconscious Hydra soldiers lying on the ground. He gave Phoenix a cocky smirk and gestured to the soldiers. "You were saying," he joked.

A loud banging noise from behind them cut Phoenix off before she could say anything. The large group of soldiers had caught up to them, and we're moving down the hallway, led by three men, carrying what was undoubtedly a missile launcher each.

"Get to the exit! Now!" Phoenix shouted a frantic warning.

They surged towards the exit at the end of the hallway, but as they placed their hands on the door, they realised that it was locked. Phoenix was about to tell them to step back so she could break it open, as the group of soldiers entered the hallway.

Sam, who was at the back of the group and facing the soldiers, reacted first. He raised his hands up, and abruptly brought them downwards in a smooth arc. As he did so, small strikes of lighting came off from the walls struck the group of soldiers, knocking them all down in one fell swoop.

Sam's ability seemed to revolve around the manipulation of electromagnetic waves and the control of electrical currents. The ability allowed him to do a multitude of things, he could essentially control anything that ran off electricity, create miniaturised lightning bolts, and telepathically hack computer networks and download and transfer information.

With the distraction from Sam, Phoenix had enough time to knock down the door with a fireball just as more soldiers came running for them. They ran out of the building, making sure to stay together as they ran into the cold night air. The soldiers followed them, but before Phoenix was able to turn around and push them back, she felt a rush of air next to her right ear and realised that someone was firing at them from the other direction.

Phoenix's eyes went to the same hill she had been perched upon earlier to scope out the building. As she looked closer, she saw the distinct shape of another human being, and saw the faint outline of a rifle. Phoenix pulled Bella to the side as another bullet came dangerously close.

"Sniper!" Phoenix shouted a warning. They had nearly made it clear of open ground and were about to reach the tree line, but the sniper was following their every movements. Another bullet fired, but it flew over the top of Phoenix and struck one of the soldiers running after her. "Get to cover!" she cried to her team.

As they ran for the trees, Phoenix stopped in her tracks and turned to the Sniper. Her hands erupted in flames, and she cried out angrily as she swung her hands over her head and thrust them in the direction of the Sniper. A fireball shot from her hands, and Phoenix watched as the Sniper's features were illuminated by the oncoming flame, before he dodged the attack.

Phoenix saw a glint of metal as the Sniper picked up his rifle and moved down the other side of the hill, vanishing from sight. Phoenix sucked in a breath as she processed what she had just seen. For a second, she could've sworn that the brief flash of metal she had seen, was that of a metal arm.

Phoenix turned her head to the oncoming group of soldiers, raising her hands once more for an attack. Just as she was about to strike them, a loud noise from above called to her attention. The wind around her began blowing at high speeds, whipping Phoenix's hair into her face. She looked upwards, and saw lights shining down on her, beyond that, she could identify the silhouette of a slowly descending helicopter.

The helicopter landed in the space between Phoenix and the group of Hydra soldiers. Phoenix raised her hands in defence, prepared for an even greater attack. Surprisingly, a familiar figure leaned out of the helicopter and waved his hands at her.

"Get in!" he called out. "And hurry up about it, I ain't waiting around here too long."

Phoenix turned behind her and saw The Experiments at the very edge of the tree-line, their retreat halted by the new arrival. Phoenix relayed the message to them with a shout, and soon they were running back towards her. Phoenix waited by the door for The Experiments to reach her. The helicopter began to ascend as Phoenix was helping them clamber on.

By the time the other Experiments had climbed on, the helicopter was already 6 feet off the ground. Phoenix stepped backwards and jumped up, her hands barely managing to grab the railings at the bottom of the chopper. She heard firing below her, and looked down to see the soldiers aiming their weapons at her.

Someone reached down out of the chopper and grabbed Phoenix's hands. They hoisted her upwards, and Phoenix was pulled into the chopper with such a force that she fell forward, into the person who had pulled her up. She collided with Mark and the two of them fell and hit the ground, their foreheads connecting painfully as Phoenix landed on top of him.

"Ow," Mark commented, rubbing his forehead as Phoenix pulled herself off him and rose to her feet. He still lay on the ground, and looked up at her with a sly grin. "You owe me one for that. Actually you owe me two, because not only did I participate in physical exertion by pulling you up, you practically just gave me a concussion."

Phoenix wasn't listening to him, instead she was looking at the person who had just saved them. Mark looked up and recognised who it was, stuttering as he tried not to curse out loud. The other Experiments moved into the seats of the chopper, staring at the man standing before them.

"It's been a while Director Fury," Phoenix acknowledged him as she sat down beside Heather. "To what do we owe the honour of this convenient mission extraction?"

"You know the last time I had a conversation with you I don't remember you being this sarcastic," Nick Fury shook his head as he took a seat. He placed the gun he had used to fire at the Hydra soldiers to the side. "That's what I get for letting you near Barton and Romanoff. And it's not Director anymore. In case you hadn't noticed, my job ended kinda badly."

Mark finally found his words, leaping to his feet off the ground, he pointed to Fury. "You're supposed to be dead!" he exclaimed.

Sam grabbed Mark by the shirt sleeve and pulled him into the seat next to him. "Sorry to disappoint Winters, but I am very much alive," Fury responded, fixing him with a mild glance of annoyance before he turned back to Phoenix. "As for the mission extraction, let's just call it a favour for a favour. I do something for you, and now I need you to do something for me."

"What exactly do you want us to do?" Phoenix inquired cautiously, leaning forward in her seat.

"The Avengers are in trouble and they need our help," Fury replied, watching as Phoenix's expression changed from intrigue to concern. "I thought that might catch your attention."

"Are Natasha and Clint alright?" Phoenix asked, her mind immediately jumping to the worst possible conclusion. "What's happened, why are they in trouble?"

"Barton and Romanoff are alive," Fury answered her first question. "It's a complicated situation. Right now the Avengers have gathered at a safe house, after a less than fortunate battle with a new enemy. You'll hear more about what happened in Johannesburg soon enough. For now, while The Avengers are working on a plan, we need you to be ready."

"Ready for what?" Phoenix demanded, her voice turning cold as Fury gave her incredibly vague answers.

"Ready for a war," Fury answered.


	2. The Evacuation

**A/N: WARNING: Major spoliers for Age of Ultron ahead, if you haven't seen the movie, please take extreme caution. I'm attemting to upload a chapter every Saturday night and so far I've managed to keep to schedule, but we'll see how long that lasts. So chapter 2, the events of this chapter take place right in the climax of Age of Ultron, and since this story stays in cannon, there are no changes to any main events. I've considered making this series an AU, but I want it to expand along with the MCU storyline. Anyway that's enough waffle from me. As always; don't forget to read, review and enjoy.**

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Natasha felt her feet hit the ground as The Hulk gently lowered her out of his arms and onto the surface of the Helicarrier. The Hulk hesitated for a minute and looked down at her, before he jumped and launched himself upwards, roaring as he flung himself at the quinjet that Ultron had commandeered.

There was a banging of metal from behind her as someone flung open the door to the inside of the Helicarrier. "Natasha!" The person cried in relief as they ran outside and onto the runway. Natasha recognised who it was the instant the sun hit her, and her red hair gleamed almost gold in the light.

"Phoenix?" Natasha questioned in surprise as she ran at Natasha. Natasha wrapped her in a hug once she reached her, and they remained in an embrace for a second before Natasha released her. Overcoming the shock of seeing her, Natasha put her hands on Phoenix's shoulders. "What are you doing here? It's too dangerous."

"I'm here with The Experiments. Fury called us in to help with the evacuation," Phoenix answered, grinning at Natasha as she spoke. "It's good to see you."

Natasha placed a hand on Phoenix's cheek, allowing herself to return the smile. An explosion overhead brought them back to reality as War Machine shot down another Ultron Sentry. Natasha took her hand away from Phoenix's cheek and took a step back, remembering that she still had a job to do.

"Get The Experiments together and be prepared for the evacuees coming in," Natasha instructed Phoenix. "Some of them might be injured, they'll need your help once the Helicarrier lands. I've still got something I need to do. And Phoenix, promise me you won't go near the fight."

Phoenix looked as if she was about to protest, but with a stern look from Natasha she nodded. "I promise."

Natasha nodded. "It's good to see you to Milaya Moya."

Phoenix smiled at the use of her Russian nickname, and watched as Natasha ran into the Helicarrier through the door Phoenix had just emerged from. Phoenix considered running after her so she could gather The Experiments, but decided against it as she saw more Ultron Sentries flying overhead.

Phoenix moved closer to the edge of the Helicarrier and placed a hand to her comms. "Experiments come in, I need you outside," she spoke over the comms, her voice urgent.

Phoenix stared dead ahead as Sokovia continued rising into the air, it was above the Helicarrier now, and it just kept on rising. Just as Phoenix saw the bottom of the landmass rise above the Helicarrier, the small light emitting objects that were placed at the side of the landmass and responsible for sending it into the air, began to activate.

The landmass dropped.

Phoenix cried out and ran to the edge, knowing full well what would happen if that landmass hit the ground. The other Experiments ran towards her, each of them equally as frantic as they looked over the side and watched Sokovia plummet towards the ground.

Phoenix put a hand over her mouth while she prayed that they would be able to stop it before it caused mass destruction. The Experiments grabbed each other's hands as they waited with baited breaths as Sokovia kept moving towards the ground at a frightening speed.

At the very last minute before it hit the ground, the landmass of Sokovia exploded. The Experiments screamed and shouted in triumph, their excitement uncontainable as they hugged each other and jumped up and down, screaming and crying at the same time.

Phoenix's joy faded once panic struck her. Where were the rest of The Avengers? Had they made it off the landmass in time? Where was Clint? Phoenix remembered her objective with a jolt as she felt the Helicarrier 's engines come to life beneath her feet. They were about to begin flying away, which meant The Experiments needed to get inside.

As they made their way to the doors, Phoenix saw a shape flying towards them. She prepared for an attack from an Ultron Sentry that had avoided death. Instead, she was surprised to see a man with pink skin wearing a cape. Phoenix was going to send a fireball in his direction, but stopped herself when she saw the strange humanoid thing was carrying a young woman in his arms.

The humanoid creature saw The Experiments standing there and flew over to them. As it got closer, Phoenix was able to make out human features, and some features that weren't human, the pink skin was one of those features, but it also had a glowing yellow stone embedded in its forehead.

It descended onto the Helicarrier and gently lowered the young woman to the ground. It nodded to Phoenix, before flying away. Phoenix watched it leave, before she was able to wash away the shock, and tend to the woman who seemed to be a Sokovian refugee.

The woman was young, in her early twenties, and the very instant she was placed onto the ground, she fell to her knees and begun to sob. Long auburn hair fell in front of her face as she leaned forward and cried with her hands cupped over her mouth.

Phoenix placed a hand on the woman's shoulder and tried speaking to her. "It's alright you're safe," she reassured the young woman. "Come with us, it'll be alright."

The young woman said nothing but allowed Phoenix to gently pull her to her feet and lead her in the direction of the Helicarrier doors. They made it inside just in time as the Helicarrier began its descent. They stepped into the Helicarrier's bridge, Phoenix still supporting the young woman, who continued sobbing loudly.

Phoenix looked around the room and saw the damaged body of an Ultron Sentry that had collided with the conference table, having flown into the room through the glass panel at the front of the bridge. Although she knew the sentry had been destroyed, she still gave it a wary glance.

A SHIELD agent stepped forward and Phoenix quickly explained that the young woman was a refugee. Halfway through her explanation, the young woman broke her silence. "I am Wanda Maximoff," she told them in a distinct Eastern European accent."

The SHIELD agent must've recognised the name, because he nodded nervously and called over another agent. The agent went off and retrieved Fury, who stepped towards them, looking Wanda up and down curiously. He sent the SHIELD agents away with a flick of his hand and turned to Phoenix.

"You've got a knack for finding trouble you know," he commented dryly to Phoenix, before turning to look at Wanda. "I hear you helped out our team up there on Sokovia. Thanks for that. But how exactly did you make it onto the Helicarrier? Our reports said you were up there when it started falling."

"A man with pink skin, wearing a latex outfit and a cape, with a glowing yellow stone in his head, flew over to the Helicarrier with her in his arms, and left her here before he flew off again," Phoenix answered for Wanda, looking at Fury with a raised eyebrow. "At least that's what I saw."

"Duly noted Romanoff," Fury responded with a sideways glance at her as he nodded to Wanda. "Once we reach the nearest body of water, we'll land the Helicarrier and start loading the refugees off the Lifeboats. We could use your help, some of them might be injured. Once we relocate the refugees somewhere safe, we'll discuss what happens next for you."

Wanda hesitated, before she nodded stiffly to Fury, wiping some of the tears from her eyes as she did so. Fury gave her a curt nod of appreciation before walking away, leavings The Experiments alone with Wanda Maximoff, who had now stepped away from Phoenix and was eyeing her curiously.

"He called you Romanoff," Wanda stated, staring at Phoenix with narrowed eyes. "That is the name of the Black Widow."

"Yeah," Phoenix responded, drawing out the h as she spoke. "She's technically my adopted mother, well not really, but kind of. It's complicated." Turning her eyes to the left, Phoenix spotted Natasha and held up a hand to Wanda. "That's her now, just give me a sec."

Phoenix walked over just as Natasha closed a video communication and looked away with a pained expression. Phoenix saw her expression, and approached slowly. Reaching out a hand, she gently touched Natasha's arm. "Is something wrong?" She asked softly.

Natasha turned around to face her and made eye contact, forcing a smile as Phoenix looked at her in concern. "There are some things I need to bring you up to speed on," she told her with a sigh. "But that can wait for now. We're about to land and there are refugees that still need our help."

As Black Widow and the girl conversed, Wanda watched them with a tilted head. She focused her eyes on the girl, curious to find out more. Wanda quickly found that the girl's name was Phoenix, and delving deeper, she found that she was hiding things away. Wanda made the mistake of venturing even further into Phoenix's mind, her defences broke away all at once, and she was nearly flooded with the horrible memories and emotions that had been left as scars in the girl's mind.

Phoenix realised that something was happening and snapped her head around to Wanda who was staring at her in horror. Natasha saw the exchange, and having been victim to the Maximoff girl's mind games before, she stepped in front of Phoenix defensively.

"Project Achilles," Wanda breathed in fear. "You worked for The Doctor."

Phoenix heard her mumble, but couldn't make out what was said. "What did you say?" Phoenix questioned.

At that moment, the Helicarrier landed, shuddering as it lowered itself gently onto the surface of the water. There was a small splash sound as it connected with the water, and the rotor engines powered down with an electronic whine. Phoenix looked out ahead of her, and saw that they had landed in the centre of a small lake.

Natasha gave Wanda a sideways glance before she nodded to Phoenix. "Go with The Experiments and help the refugees," Natasha instructed her. "Our objective is to get people off the Lifeboats and onto the Helicarrier, and if there are any serious injuries we have agents standing by in the infirmary."

Phoenix nodded, and gathered her team who had been waiting silently at the back of the room, conversing amongst themselves and eyeing Wanda with a mixture of curiosity and fear. They followed Phoenix, and moved in a group as they walked through the Helicarrier to the runway door.

Once outside, they saw that two Lifeboats had already begun landing, and two more were making their descent at the other end of the Helicarrier. The Experiments moved towards the first two, splitting up, Heather, Josh and Bella moved toward the first one, while Sam, Phoenix and Mark took the second.

The Lifeboats were strife with chaos. Sokovian refugees huddled together in groups of family and friends, crying and sobbing over what they had just witnessed. Phoenix stepped into the Lifeboat first, calling out to those who understood English, to explain what she was telling them, to those who only understood Sokovian.

She moved amongst the crowd, seeking out anyone with severe injuries, while Mark and Sam helped those who were uninjured off the boat. SHIELD agents with gurneys arrived to take away those too injured to walk and the rest were directed inside the Helicarrier to find their friends and family.

In the corner of the Lifeboat, Phoenix found a little girl, no more than seven years old huddled in the corner. She didn't understand English, but somehow Phoenix managed to coax her from the Boat. She took the girls hand and looked around for help, she approached a SHIELD agent who was directing the refugees on where to go.

"She keeps repeating something that sounds like matka," Phoenix explained to the Agent. "I think she's looking for her mother, it's possible her mother could be on another boat. You might need to find someone who speaks Sokovian to try and figure out what she's saying. At least put the word out that a seven year old girl is missing her mother, someone might come forward."

The agent nodded to her and moved off, spreading the word to the Sokovian's who understood English. Phoenix released the girl's hand and bent down to make eye-contact with her. Mark and Sam walked up behind her as Phoenix tried to find a way to communicate with her.

"Phoenix," she said slowly as she pointed to herself. "My name. What's your name?"

The girl shook her head and looked down, scrunching up her face she began to cry silently. She held out her arms and walked forward, hugging Phoenix as she looked for comfort. She said something in Sokovian as she cried, but Phoenix was still unable to understand what she way saying.

"It's gonna be ok," Phoenix comforted her, rubbing her back as she looked up to see Sam and Mark looking down at her in concern. "She's scared. It's understandable considering what just happened. I just hope we find her mother, or another family member who can look after her."

No sooner than the words left Phoenix's mouth, a woman cried out from behind her. Phoenix released the girl and turned around to see a woman running towards them, tears streaming down her face. She reached them, and the little girl moved away from Phoenix and ran into the woman's arms.

The woman cried in relief and began speaking Sokovian to the girl, stroking her hair as she did so. Looking up at Phoenix, the woman smiled. "Thank you," she said in a heavy accent, her attempt at English coming out in pieces as she tried to express her gratitude.

Phoenix smiled and waved at them as the woman and her daughter walked away. Mark came up beside her and elbowed her playfully. "Nicely done," he commented. "Although I'm not impressed that you didn't know Sokovian. Come on, I thought you're meant to know everything."

Phoenix rolled her eyes and him and motioned to the other two lifeboats that refugees were beginning to be unloaded from. "We're not done here yet," she reminded him sternly. "There are still people that need help. You can joke around later."

They made it to where people were being directed off the Lifeboat. Phoenix moved past the groups of refuges and entered the lifeboat, eyes scanning the people still seated in the transporter, searching for those with serious injuries.

Slumped over in a chair looking exhausted and holding his side, was someone very familiar. Phoenix spotted him and ran forward, throwing herself into his arms as he stood up. He was knocked off balance, but returned the hug. He gently pushed her off after a minute and looked at her in confusion.

"Phoenix? Why are you here?" Clint demanded. "For the love of God, please tell me that you weren't involved in the fight."

"I wasn't," Phoenix promised. As she took a step back she looked down and saw a man lying on the ground, a vacant cold expression in his wide eyes. Patches of blood stained what he was wearing and he seemed frozen in a state of empty shock. Phoenix realised that the man wasn't alive and stared at his body with a blank expression. "Who was he?"

"Pietro Maximoff, he helped us in the fight and sacrificed himself to save me and civilian boy," Clint answered, looking down at Pietro regretfully. He put a hand on Phoenix's shoulder and turned her away, bringing her closer to him so she didn't have to look at the body.

"Maximoff?" Phoenix questioned. "I just had a weird encounter with a girl who said her name was Wanda Maximoff."

"That would be his really creepy sister," Clint nodded in clarification and began leading Phoenix away from the body. He gave instructions to several SHIELD agents who moved to cover up the body, placing a white sheet over him.

"That explains why she was so distraught when we found her," Phoenix commented as she released herself from Clint's grip and began looking him up and down. "You're not injured are you?" she asked as she held up his arm and tested for broken bones by squeezing his arm in various places.

"I'm fine Phoenix," Clint shrugged her away with the hint of a smile on his lips. "Go help everyone else."

Phoenix nodded and turned around sharply, immediately she moved to help a man who was slumped to the ground and clutching his leg in pain. Phoenix helped to move the man onto a stretcher and watched as the agents carried him away to the infirmary.

Phoenix turned her head to scan her surroundings, spotting someone familiar, Phoenix ran over to him. Steve saw Phoenix approaching and held out his arm, wrapping her in a tight one-armed hug. As Steve released her, he looked her up and down, furrowing his brows and narrowing his eyes.

"You look different," he observed. "You look older."

Phoenix scoffed as she started to look over his various wounds. "That's what happens when you don't see someone for four months," she commented while examining a gash down his arm. "How's the fight against Hydra going?"

Steve knew that it was a sarcastic question, and decided to respond in a similar way. "Fantastic," he sarcastically retorted as he gestured around him. "We just barely stopped floating landmass from plummeting to the ground and causing an extinction level event. How's your Wednesday been?"

Phoenix laughed dryly as she looked over her shoulder to see the last of the refugees being escorted inside the Helicarrier. "You did a good job Steve," she told him, her voice level and serious. "Hundreds of people owe The Avengers their lives. Not to mention you stopped Ultron."

"You're right. At the end of the day, I guess we didn't do that badly," he gave her a small grin as he looked up and spotted two figures in the distance. "Looks like Tony and Thor made it out. Come on, let's go meet them. Unless you've got something you need to be doing?"

Steve was looking over Phoenix's shoulder at Mark and Sam who were waiting for her with anxious looks. Phoenix waved them away with a single gesture and walked with Steve to where Thor had landed on the runway of the Helicarrier. About a minute after Thor, Iron Man descended, landing just beside Thor.

"Nice work guys," Steve praised them.

"I should think so, that was..." Tony trailed off as his eyes fell upon Phoenix. "Do you always show up where there's trouble?"

"Fury pulled us out of a mission in Cleveland 3 days ago after the incident at Johannesburg," Phoenix informed him. "Since then The Experiments have been waiting on the sidelines in case we needed to step in if in something went wrong. Fury brought us with him on the Helicarrier as a precaution."

"It is good to see you once again Phoenix," Thor said as he stepped forward. "While you are a powerful warrior, I believe that it was too dangerous a battle for you to have joined. Maybe one day, once you have undertaken the appropriate training."

"For the last time Thor, Phoenix is not going to Asgard with you," Steve cut across him sternly.

"You spoil all the fun Captain," Thor joked as he threw an arm around Phoenix. "She would make a fine Asgardian."

"Try selling that pitch to Natasha," Tony challenged him.

* * *

Mark watched Phoenix with folded arms as he leaned against the wall of the Hellicarrier's bridge. She stood on the other side of the room, laughing and talking with Avengers. He frowned to himself before looking down at the rest of The Experiments, sitting in a circle with their legs crossed like they were in preschool.

Looking back up at Phoenix, he sighed to himself. "The Avengers show up and suddenly we get sidelined," he muttered bitterly.

Sam looked up at him with a flat expression. "She hasn't seen them for four months dude, calm down," he scolded him. "They mean a lot to her. They're practically her family. Heck, Black Widow and Hawkeye are literally her adopted parents."

"And Iron Man is her eccentric rich Uncle, those are Phoenix's exact words," Heather spoke up with a giggle in her voice. "Captain America might as well be her Uncle as well, or a weird older brother," The Experiments laughed at the comment and Heather looked up at Mark with a raised eyebrow. "Let her enjoy herself, and stop acting so jealous all the time."

"Jealous!" Mark exclaimed in surprise. "I'm just wondering why The Avengers take priority. I get that Natasha and Clint are her parents, but what about the rest of them? Thor hardly ever comes to Earth, all Iron Man does is buy things for her, I don't even know why she hangs out with Captain America, and Dr Banner... Where is Dr Banner?"

Bella looked around the room, eyes searching for any sign of him. "I- I don't actually know. Has anyone seen him at all?" She asked the rest of the group.

"No," the group responded.

"Phoenix probably knows," Josh suggested. "I nearly stumbled across her and the Black Widow having a serious talk about half an hour ago. And there are some rumours floating around about something going on between Black Widow and Dr Banner."

"I'll ask her," Sam volunteered immediately and jumped to his feet.

Mark watched with his eyes narrowed as Sam strode over to Phoenix wearing a warm smile. He placed a hand on her arm gently, and drew her to the side. Sam kept his back to where Mark was standing, but Mark was still able to watch Phoenix's expression closely.

"Are you jealous now?" Heather rose to her feet and whispered into Mark's ear, prompting a scowl as he continued watching the two of them converse.

Phoenix listened closely to what Sam was saying, and once he finished her expression turned serious and she leaned in closer to Sam to whisper something. She seemed concerned, and kept casting wayward glances over her shoulder at Natasha. Sam nodded once she was finished talking, and touched her arm once again, rubbing it comfortingly.

Mark scowled as Phoenix returned to The Avengers and Sam turned around and walked back over to them. "What'd you find out?" Mark asked him in a cold voice.

"Come here guys, Phoenix wants the situation kept under wraps for now so I have to tell you in a whisper," Sam beckoned the others over and lowered his voice to a barely audible murmur. "After the fight, the Hulk took off in a quintet that was set to stealth mode. He gone completely off the grid and they have no way of tracking him down. He's gone."


	3. The Information

**A/N: Hello all, I bring you chapter three on a very special date. Today is the 4th of July, which is actually Phoenix's birthday and I'm really happy that her birthday coincides with a Saturday because as you know, I upload a chapter every Saturday. From what I read in the reviews it seems like you all really like Phoenix's character, so I thought, since it's a special occasion why don't we do something to celebrate. Once you finished reading this chapter, why don't you leave me review telling me what you like about Phoenix or just generally what you think of her. I know hardly anyone will do this, but it's a special occasion, who cares. Anyway, I hope you all like this chapter and don't forget to read review and enjoy.**

* * *

Clint shifted the car into park and wordlessly stepped out of the car. He immediately began walking to the farmhouse, leaving Natasha and Phoenix to unpack the vehicle. Phoenix slid out of the backseat without so much as a second glance in Natasha's direction as she threw open the boot of the car.

Natasha stepped out of the car slowly and walked around to the boot to stand behind Phoenix as she pulled grocery bags out of the boot. Guilt brewed in her stomach and twisted around her heart, as she saw Phoenix's cold expression.

Phoenix had been informed shortly after The Battle of Sokovia that Bruce had disappeared. Last night, Natasha and Phoenix had sat on the edge of the Helicarrier, talking together as they watched the moonlight crossing the lake. Natasha confessed what happened between her and Bruce, telling Phoenix every detail, including their plan to leave together.

Phoenix had not reacted to the news well, and stormed off after Natasha had spoken to her. Since then, she hadn't spoken a single word to Natasha and was trying her best to ignore her. Something which had proven difficult on the car ride over from New York, as Clint found himself caught in the centre of a tense atmosphere.

Phoenix turned around, grocery bags in hand, and stepped past Natasha with her head lowered. Natasha tried to reach out and place a hand on Phoenix's arm, but Phoenix stepped away and hesitated for a brief second before she stalked off in the direction of the farmhouse.

Phoenix walked in the front door just as Laura and Clint broke apart after Laura had wrapped him in an embrace the second he walked in the front door. Phoenix tried to sneak past and make it to the kitchen, but Laura spotted her over Clint's shoulder.

"Hi Phoenix," Laura greeted her. "Did Clint pick you up on the way back from the battle?"

"No actually, I was at Sokovia," Phoenix answered as she dropped the grocery bags onto the kitchen bench.

Laura turned to Clint with her mouth open, looking as if she was about to give him an earful. Luckily for Clint, Natasha walked in at the same moment. "Fury called The Experiments in," Natasha explained as she dropped her bags at the door. "All six of them were at Sokovia, but don't worry none of them were actually involved in the fight."

Laura shook her head as she walked over to Phoenix and squeezed her in a hug. "I can't believe Fury would do that, I'm so glad you're alright," Laura crooned as she held onto Phoenix tightly.

Phoenix tensed in Laura's arms and lightly patted her shoulder. Looking over at Clint, Phoenix wordlessly begged for his help but he simply shook his head and tried his best not to laugh. When Laura finally released her, Phoenix sighed in relief and smiled awkwardly at Laura who was brushing Phoenix's hair out of her face and examining her features.

"You used to walk in and out of this place nearly every day. What happened to my wayward drifter huh? It's been a couple of weeks since I last saw you," Laura inquired as she stepped around Phoenix and began rooting through the groceries she'd brought in.

"Been busy," Phoenix gave a half-assed answer as she shrugged dismissively. Phoenix stepped to the side and walked around Laura, rolling her eyes as Clint made a face at her as she walked past.

Phoenix bent down and picked up her bag that Natasha had left at the door. She placed a hand on the bannister and started to move up the stairs but Laura called out, stoping Phoenix in her tracks. "Same room as always Phoenix," Laura reminded her.

Phoenix nodded and shot up the stairs. Very distantly, the thud of feet on the wooden floors could be heard, and a faint slam when Phoenix walked into the spare bedroom and closed the door with her foot. Dropping her bag to the floor, Phoenix lay across the bed with a groan as she stared at the ceiling.

As she lay on the bed, legs and arms sprawled outwards, Phoenix felt something pressing against the back of her thigh. Sitting up, Phoenix placed her hand into her back pocket and her finger touched a metal object in the shape of a rectangle. Phoenix saw that it was a USB stick once she pulled it out of her pocket and held it in her hand.

She realised with a jolt that it was the information The Experiments had taken from the Hydra base in Cleveland. She couldn't open it on her laptop because they might trace the IP address, and if the information was encrypted, Phoenix would need someone to help her crack it. She tossed the USB into the bedside table drawer, deciding to wait until she re-joined with The Experiments before they investigated whatever Hydra had been keeping from them.

Her objective had been to hand the information over to Jorge, but Phoenix couldn't stop thinking about two words that kept playing over and over in her mind. Project Achilles. When Jorge had given her the assignment, they had been instructed to download all files under the codename Project Achilles.

The Experiments had been living in Charlotte, Michigan with Jorge Louis for about a year. Jorge was their handler and trainer. He was an old associate of SHIELD and surprisingly one of Nick Fury's close allies. Jorge was distant and generally left the Experiments alone, in fact, he hardly ever showed up at the house in Charlotte, and spent most of his time in his Detroit apartment.

Jorge probably didn't even know that Fury had taken control of The Experiments for half a week. Despite that, he would probably notice if Phoenix was keeping a USB to herself rather than transferring the information to him. But Phoenix couldn't shake the nasty feeling that came up whenever she thought about the words.

What did Project Achilles mean?

Project Achilles sounded hauntingly familiar. Phoenix was sure she had heard it before. In her memory it was an echo, hidden behind the walls in her mind. Since she couldn't give herself the answers, Phoenix knew that she needed to find a way into the USB.

Somewhere from within her bag, Phoenix's phone erupted into song, blaring _Disco Inferno_ at an extremely loud volume. Knowing that only one of her friends would set that as their personalised ringtone, Phoenix didn't even need to look at the caller ID as she pulled the phone out of her bag.

"Mark," Phoenix addressed him as she answered the phone. "How many times do I need to tell you not to change the ringtone on my phone?"

"Shut up, that song is perfect for you. Have you made it to the farmhouse yet?" He asked.

Phoenix stood up off the bed and walked over to the window. "Yeah, I just got here about ten minutes ago," she replied, eyes scanning the front yard as she tilted her head. "What about you guys, has your entourage delivered you back to Charlotte yet?"

"Not yet, right now we're huddled in the back of a van playing I Spy to pass the time, it's thrilling," Mark answered. "Oh, and you're on speaker by the way."

"Is the conversation secure?" Phoenix asked, turning her head to cautiously eye the bedside table where she had thrown the USB. Eyes still fixated on the table, Phoenix lowered herself into a desk chair.

"I dunno, there's one of those barrier things separating us and the driver. I think the line's secure," Mark responded. Phoenix heard shuffling on the other end of the line, before Mark spoke again, his voice distant. "Josh, say something to make sure the driver can't hear us."

"Do I look like a dictionary to you?" Josh demanded, his voice sounding distant over the phone. "I'm not here to sprout out random words whenever you want me to. I can't think when you put me on the spot like that, why don't you say something to the driver."

Phoenix listened with the phone to her ear as she heard lowered voices arguing with each other and footsteps before she could hear the crackle of someone's breath. "I can confirm that the line is secure and Josh and Mark are idiots," Heather spoke up, taking control of the situation. "I felt something through the link, what do we need to talk about."

"The data we retrieved from the Hydra base in Cleveland, I've got a bad feeling about what it might be," Phoenix informed her, absently tapping on the back of her phone while holding it in her hand. "We need to analyse what's on the device and I can't do that on my laptop it's too risky. A commercial computer would do, they can trace the location but not the user."

"We could hit the Apple Store again-" Sam started to offer a suggestion but was interrupted.

Bella cut across him sharply. "We just got back from the Helicarrier, Phoenix, take a break," Bella instructed her harshly. "You haven't seen Natasha or Clint for a while. Spend some time with them before you just jump into the next mission."

Phoenix inhaled sharply and pursed her lips. "Tomorrow. We can't risk waiting any longer than that," she compromised bitterly. "I'm supposed to hand over the information to Jorge, and by my estimations we have probably two days before he starts demanding for it. Besides I feel – I think there's something off with whatever's on that USB. I'll tell you more about it when we meet up."

With that, Phoenix removed the phone from her ear and tapped end call, dropping the phone onto the desk by the window, Phoenix shot to her feet and moved closer to the window. Leaning over the desk, she placed her hand against the window frame and stared ahead.

The Barton farm was surrounded by trees on most sides, with a short dirt road that connected to the road into town. It was isolated, but not completely off the grid, a factor which had played in Phoenix's favour on multiple occasions. It was a peaceful retreat, where she could be at one with her thoughts.

Peaceful, at least until young children burst into her room without warning.

"Phoenix!" Lila cried in delight, her brown pigtails bouncing as she ran into the room. She ran to Phoenix and threw herself at the older girl, wrapping her arms around her midsection and squeezing her tightly while she smiled up at her.

Lila pulled at Phoenix's arm to make sure she had her complete attention and looked up at the older girl with pleading eyes. "Can I see the magic, please Phoenix?" Lila asked in a whisper, her bottom lip sticking out ever so slightly as she spoke.

Phoenix bit back a smile by chewing the inside of her mouth as she processed Lila's request. Phoenix crouched down and held out her hand in front of Lila. The younger girl gasped as a flame sparked in Phoenix's hand. Phoenix slowly lowered her hand, but the flame stayed in place, hovering in front of Lila.

Phoenix slowly waggled her finger, controlling the fire as it began to move around. It twirled and danced across Lila's line of sight, swirling as it moved in circles around Lila's head. The fire moved to Lila's shoulder and traced down her arm, millimetres away from touching her skin as it glided gracefully and was eventually snuffed out when Phoenix enclosed her hands around it.

"Wow!" Lila exclaimed with an exhale of breath. "It's pretty."

Phoenix allowed herself a small smile as she stood up and put a hand on Lila's shoulder. "Come on, let's head downstairs."

* * *

Phoenix slipped out the front door and locked it behind her, holding her breath until she had made it off the front porch. The first glimpses of the morning light broke across the tree line as Phoenix walked across the front lawn. She had permission to come and go as she pleased, but leaving early in the morning would raise questions that Phoenix didn't want to answer,

The front door opened as Phoenix made it to the SUV parked on the front lawn and she turned around to see Natasha walking across the porch, heading right for her. Hurriedly, Phoenix threw her bag into the backseat and moved towards the driver side door, keys at the ready.

"Where are you going?" Natasha demanded as Phoenix threw open the car door.

"Why do you care?" Phoenix snapped in response, scowling as she stepped into the car and sat down, slamming the door shut. Natasha shook her head and opened the car door on her side, sitting down in the passenger seat. "Get out of the car," Phoenix ordered darkly.

"Not a chance," Natasha responded, closing the door behind her as Phoenix jammed the keys into the ignition. "You know, you're not legally allowed to drive."

"I have the legal documents," Phoenix reached her arm into the back while keeping her eyes glued to the space in front of her. She grabbed her bag and threw it into Natasha's lap. "My drivers license is completely legal. Look for yourself."

Natasha grabbed Phoenix's wallet and removed her drivers license, holding it up to the light, she frowned. Phoenix started the car and began driving off down the dirt road that connected them to the main road. Natasha fixed Phoenix with a flat look as she put the license back and threw Phoenix's bag into the backseat.

"It would be legal if you really were born in 1997, but since you aren't 17 yet, it doesn't count. You have illegal documentation that looks like legal documentation, it's not the same thing," Natasha informed her, sighing as she put her feet up on the dashboard and leaned back.

"Don't lecture me about what's legal or illegal Nat. You have no moral high ground as far as that matter is concerned. You're being a hypocrite," Phoenix responded flatly, eyes scanning the road ahead of her as the car bounced off the dirt track to the Barton's house, and onto the main road.

Natasha snapped her head around the Phoenix and watched her every movement with a sharp glare. "Spit it out Phoenix," Natasha snapped. "You're upset with me I get that, but what you're doing needs to stop. Talk to me about it for God's sake, don't act so childish-"

"YOU WERE GOING TO LEAVE ME!" Phoenix shouted, surprising even herself with the volume of her voice as she cut across Natasha. Calming her trembling hands by clenching them tighter around the steering wheel, Phoenix took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself.

Natasha looked away and tried to find words. "I know that whatever I was looking for in the way of a relationship with Bruce was a mislead thought," Natasha told her calmly. "I wasn't in the right frame of mind, and I'm sorry, that was my mistake."

"I really don't care about you and Bruce. Although, if I'm being honest, I do care a little bit, but only because it's weird. However I understand that you have the right to be with whoever you want, I'm not upset about that," Phoenix told her, calming down from her brief outburst of anger, she deflated slightly and mumbled. "When you made the decision to run off with Bruce you didn't even give me a second thought. You were going to vanish, without saying goodbye. Where would that leave me Nat?"

Natasha bit her lip as a crawling feeling of nausea wrapped itself around her stomach. She took her feet off the dashboard and looked down at her hands. "I wouldn't have left you behind," Natasha told her firmly. "You could've come with me."

Phoenix looked outraged. "And leave Clint? Leave The Experiments?" Phoenix demanded. "For the first time in my entire existence, I actually have some sense of a life worth living. I would never abandon that so you can run off into the sunset with the Hulk."

"The Maximoff girl got into my head," Natasha confessed defensively. "I was vulnerable and I reached out based off an attraction that didn't even make sense. It was a stupid mistake, and one that I don't plan on making ever again."

Phoenix was silent as she continued to drive through the centre of town. Eventually, when they were only two blocks from their destination, Phoenix spoke. "You and Clint are the only family I have. Just please, don't vanish without any warning. I don't think I could take that."

In an attempt to make the situation humorous, Natasha smirked. "Now that I think about it, leaving you with Clint as your only parent would've been a bad decision," she laughed quietly, looking over to see that Phoenix was biting back a smile at the corners of her mouth.

Phoenix pulled up in front of the large two storey house and shifted the car into park. Rolling down the window, she placed two fingers in her mouth and whistled, the high pitched noise echoing throughout the entire neighbourhood.

A window on the second floor was pushed open, revealing a shirtless and confused Sam with tousled hair. His glasses were askew, indicating that he had only just put them on. He squinted at Phoenix and raised his palms to the sky as he shrugged.

"You wanna go now?!" He demanded, shouting at Phoenix from the window.

"Yes!" Phoenix shouted back in response, as if the answer was obvious. "You've got 10 minutes to be ready! Now hurry up!"

Sam groaned and pulled himself back inside, cursing with exceptional volume as he did so. Phoenix sat back down in the car and turned to Natasha. "Do you want to drive?" She asked, pulling the keys from the ignition and offering them to her.

Natasha wordlessly took the keys from her and stepped out of the car to move around to the driver's side. Phoenix instead, slid over from the driver's seat to the passenger's seat and settled herself into place as Natasha assumed her position as the driver.

Ten minutes later, The Experiments ran out the door, mostly dressed and looking significantly irritated. Heather, Mark and Bella clambered into the backseat of the SUV and Josh and Sam sat behind them in the rear. Thankfully, there were enough seats for all seven of them in the SUV.

Natasha listened in as Phoenix explained the plan to her teammates and showed them the USB. Natasha wasn't happy that Phoenix was going behind Jorge's back for this, but her own curiosity about Project Achilles was enough for her to agree to help Phoenix.

As they pulled up in the mall parking lot, Natasha mused to Phoenix as they walked inside. "Steve and I did something similar to this when we were on the run from Hydra. Hopefully this time we won't have any maniacs on our tail."

They walked into the mall, taking care not to arouse suspicion as they walked up the escalator and into the Apple Store. They elected to split into two smaller groups once they reached the store, so Phoenix took Sam and Natasha with her to help decipher the information. Mark also tagged along with them, leaving Bella, Heather and Josh to their own devices.

Phoenix instantly went for the newest Mac model and shoved the USB into the port. Sam stood on her right, giving instructions, while Mark hovered around Phoenix's left side, staring over her shoulder as she opened various files. Natasha stood on the other side of the table from Phoenix, watching her carefully, but also scanning their surroundings.

Phoenix typed rapidly, nodding along to what Sam was telling her. Phoenix knew next to nothing about computers due to her lack of experience with them, but she was exceptionally adept at following orders, and carried out every instruction Sam gave her.

After executing the last instruction from Sam, Phoenix stared at the screen, her hands hovering just above the keyboard while she gave the screen a dead eyed stare. Sam sighed dramatically and put his head in his hands. "Crap, they took countermeasures," he groaned. "The files are corrupt, they can only be viewed from the original source. Which is the Hydra base where we nearly got shredded by bullets."

"Can't you bypass it with your power?" Mark questioned.

"No," Sam responded. "It doesn't work like that, I can't telepathically cure corrupt files. We can try to access the coding, we aren't likely to find anything, but," he turned and made eye contact with Phoenix, giving her a half shrug and a smile. "It's worth a shot right?"

Phoenix nodded and gestured to the screen in front of her. "I'm gonna need help accessing it."

Sam guided her through how to complete the task and within minutes, the screen was filled with complex computer code that continued on and on for hundreds of pages. Phoenix tried to make sense of it, but to her it appeared as a randomised collection of everything you could type on a keyboard.

"You can read this right?" Phoenix asked, taking a step back.

When Sam nodded, Mark made a noise of surprise. "Your power translates computer code?" He asked, sounding impressed.

"No you idiot," Sam shook his head. "I take Software Design at school."

"Oh."

Sam shook his head as he leaned in front of the computer, resting his head on his hand as he squinted at the screen and began to read out loud slowly, mumbling the words incoherently to himself, at least until he found something worth reading out loud.

"It mentions Project Achilles here," he announced and read out the words slowly. "Project Achilles…is to be…addressed…with the…upmost secrecy…on the authorisation of…uh I'm not sure what this says," Sam hesitated for a minute. "I think it's a capital A, then a full stop, and then Pierce with a capital P. That's gotta be a name, ."

Phoenix raised her head slowly to make eye contact with Natasha who was staring ahead darkly. The temperature of the room seemed to drop by at least ten degrees and Mark and Sam looked at each other, communicating their shared confusion in silence.

Mark looked between Phoenix and Natasha. "Does that name mean something?" he asked.

"Alexander Pierce," Natasha informed them curtly. "He was an extremely high ranking member of Hydra until he was killed at the Battle of the Triskelion. He's the one responsible for Project Insight, and the near death of millions."

Phoenix slowly leaned forward, hands gripping the desk, she looked downwards and tried to calm her breathing as Sam and Mark were occupied with asking Natasha questions. "Could Project Achilles be anything like Project Insight?" Sam inquired fearfully.

"It could be anything," Natasha responded. "But if Pierce authorised it, then we know for a fact that it was dangerous."

"Keep reading," Phoenix instructed Sam sharply as she gathered herself.

Sam nodded and turned back to the computer, his eyes scanning the lines and his mouth moving with the words that he was reading. "Here's something," he leaned forward. "The Project… is to be led by high ranking agent…and the curator of the Project itself-"

He stopped halfway through his sentence and stepped back, a hand over his mouth as he shook his head. His widened eyes made contact with Phoenix and he looked away almost instantly, stumbling backwards, his trembling hands grabbed the desk behind him for support.

"It's him," Sam managed to choke out. "Oh God, why does it always come back to him?"

Phoenix went completely rigid. She knew the look in Sam's eyes, recognised it all too well. There was only one possible person Sam could be talking about, and all four of them knew it. Phoenix closed down all windows on the computer and ripped the USB out of the port.

"We're leaving," Phoenix announced sternly.

They were staring to cause a scene amidst the Apple Store, people were turning their heads to look at them, particularly Sam who was hyperventilating uncontrollably. Heather, Josh and Bella rushed over as they saw what was happening.

As Mark and Josh grabbed Sam to help him out of the store, Phoenix was losing control of her emotions. She felt herself fall into an echoing memory, and would've collapsed to the ground if Natasha had caught her in her arms. She held onto Phoenix tightly as they walked out of the store together.

Once they made it outside and into the parking lot, Phoenix had managed to bring herself down slightly, but Sam was spiralling. He collapsed to the ground in a heap and brought his knees up to his chest. His breathing was increasingly erratic and he was clutching his chest while he was caught between the two states of hyperventilating and sobbing.

The Experiments all knew. They never spoke his name out loud, especially in front of Phoenix. All it took was for Sam to say _Him_ in that terrified voice. Doctor Harold Blake. A billionaire, surgeon, geneticist and psychopath. He had been the one who both created and destroyed the Experiment's entire lives. It was all him. The serum that made them what they were was designed and executed by him.

Phoenix had by far suffered the worst at his hands. Doctor Blake had injected six of them with his serum, but Phoenix was the only one he kept. For ten years, Phoenix lived in a makeshift facility in the basement of Doctor Blake's mansion on his private island.

In the process of training Phoenix to be Doctor Blake's personal guard dog and weapon, he had tortured and brainwashed her in unimaginable and horrific ways. No one knew the full extent of what had been done to her, all they knew, was that it left a permanent crack in Phoenix's mind that she was unable to recover from.

Natasha held Phoenix tightly. "Milaya Moya, don't go chasing after this," Natasha warned her, speaking softly. "Whatever you uncover, it's not going to be worth it. Leave the past buried where it is. Digging this up is only going to bring you pain."

Phoenix gave no response. Natasha was right of course, but right and wrong were loose terms. Phoenix needed answers, and now that she had set herself on the path, there was no going back.


	4. The Idea

**A/N: Chapter 4 is here and things are finally getting interesting. The mystery of Project Achilles stands and in this chapter, The Experiments figure out what they're going to do next. So what do you guys think so far? I promise the story gets much more interesting in the next couple of chapters. Don't forget to read, review and enjoy.**

* * *

The Experiments' house was located on the edge of town, and while their street was filled with houses, behind their backyard were several miles of forest. A couple of hours after her meditation exercises at dawn, Phoenix grabbed her phone with her running playlist on it, and she walked out the back door and took off.

On a Saturday morning, Phoenix would typically run for 10 kilometres, 5 there and 5 back. The place where she would stop and run back changed depending on what mood she was in. As she ran, Phoenix retreated into her mind and let her feet carry her on an unknown path.

After 5 kilometres, she automatically stopped by the crooked tree. It was made of a lighter coloured bark, halfway between the shades of white and grey, it's branches were bent in odd shapes and intertwined with each other, forming a thick foliage of leaves.

Phoenix stopped and placed a hand on it, steadying herself as she took deep breaths. Upon the realisation that she was completely alone, Phoenix slid down and hit the base of the tree with a thud. She placed her hands over her mouth and allowed herself to sob loudly.

She trembled and shook as she let the sobbing overtake her. Too much, it was too much. Creeping in the back of her mind, the memories, the images, the thoughts, the pain. She couldn't escape him, no matter what she did he was always there. What was Project Achilles? What other horrors had Doctor Blake been responsible for?

Unexpectedly, Phoenix's mind snapped like a rubber band. She stopped crying abruptly and stared ahead with a murderous glare. Where was she? What was this place? The questions didn't matter, all that mattered was the anger. It bubbled within her. She had killed him, she burnt him into ashes. His death hadn't been the end. To stop it she would have to kill more. She had to destroy them all.

Phoenix's mind snapped back into place. She gasped as her reality fell back into place and she rubbed at her temples, trying to shake away what had just happened. She had blacked out, lost control. The personality lapses were getting worse. Dissociative Identity Disorder. One of the things left over from the torture. It was her dark side, driven by uncontrollable anger.

She clambered to her feet and stretched before she took off at a run in the same direction she had come from. She made it to the house, having run through the problem multiple times in her head, she had an idea about how to pursue the issue.

Bella and Josh were having breakfast together at the kitchen counter when Phoenix walked in. They were the only two to actually emerge from their bedrooms before midday on the weekend, while the other three spent as much time as they could in their respective bedrooms. Phoenix nodded to them as she opened the fridge and removed a bottle of Powerade. Popping open her drink, Phoenix slid into the stool beside Bella.

"We've been away from school all week, we need to figure out an appropriate excuse for all six of us," Bella reminded her as she tapped at the blank sheet of paper in front of her.

"Something contagious and nasty," Phoenix suggested. "Write this down. To whom it may concern; Phoenix Romanoff, Isabella Mason, Joshua Smith, Heather James, Samuel Lidsdale and Marcus Winters were unable to attend school from the 4th of May until the 9th of May, as for that week, all six of them contracted a highly contagious and severe strain of stomach virus. Add a forged Doctor's note, we should be good to go."

"You're a genius Phoenix," Bella complimented her as she jotted down Phoenix's words.

"Most of the time," Josh added as he sipped at his coffee. "Excluding situations where she has to act like a normal human being."

Phoenix rolled her eyes as she pulled out her phone. "I gotta make a call," she announced as she rose to her feet.

Phoenix retreated into the empty living room and dialled the number on her phone. She put it on speakerphone and laid it on the coffee table in front of her as she sat down on the couch. On the fourth ring, the person on the other end picked up.

"Tony," Phoenix addressed him once he picked up. "It's Phoenix."

"Well if it isn't Romanoff The Younger. What can I do for my most cherished mini-assassin with superpowers?" He asked jokingly, sounding somewhat pleased to hear from her.

"I need a favour, it's kind of a big favour," she told him, biting her lip as she thought about how to phrase her words. "I need funding."

There was a pause as Tony processed what she had said. "Funding for what exactly?" He asked. "I assume it's not charity."

"I need to travel overseas," she clarified. "I'm chasing a lead on some information, but the problem is that, well I'm not meant to have this information. There's also the fact that Natasha warned me against doing this, and when she finds out that I've taken off she isn't going to be happy."

"I don't particularly want to incur the wrath of The Black Widow, but I'll take the risk as long as this is important. It's important right?"

"Whatever it is, it's significant I can say that for sure. As for important, I don't know," Phoenix responded, folding her arms as she frowned uneasily.

"Just let me know what you need and I'll write you a check. There's something else I wanna run by you," Tony said before pausing, Phoenix heard a crackle over the phone as he sighed. "I was looking through my files and I found all of the research that Banner did on your genetics. I don't think he's coming back anytime soon, so what do you want to do with it."

"Send it over to me," Phoenix requested. "Thanks Tony, I'll talk to you soon."

With that, she hung up and pocketed her phone. She had completely forgotten about Banner and the extensive studies he had conducted on The Experiments. They had provided him with blood samples close to a year ago, and he'd been studying the samples ever since. There was no telling what he could've uncovered.

Josh appeared at the door and announced. "It's like 11:30 and he's still unresponsive. Sam is standing by, do you want to enact The Rise and Shine Protocol?"

"Do it," Phoenix commanded. "Make sure everyone is standing by."

"Already done," Josh responded with a grin. "Come on, you don't want to miss the show."

Josh took off at a jog, his feet thudding rhythmically as he jogged up the stairs. Phoenix followed him, and as she founded the corner on the staircase, she spun herself around by pulling on the banister.

Her feet hit the landing just as Heather emerged from her bedroom, still wearing her pyjamas. They walked up the hallway side by side until they reached the correct room and found Josh, Bella and Sam waiting in front of an open door.

Phoenix leaned against the doorframe as Sam crept into the room. Mark was strewn across the bed in a crumpled mess of blankets. His head was lopsided on the bed, and his mouth was wide open as he snored loudly and unashamedly. Sam shoved him multiple times, the only response he received was a groan from Mark, who rolled over and lay face down on the bed, looking as if the pillow had consumed his face.

"Marki-moo," Sam teased as he murmured in a high pitch voice. "Time to get up. Maaarcus."

Still nothing. Sam turned his head and winked at Phoenix, giving her a thumbs up. Phoenix nodded sharply in response, and next to her, Bella pressed play on her video camera. Waggling his fingers, Sam leaned in closer to Mark as small electric currents began running over his fingers. Sam reached out, and the second his hand connected with Mark's arm, electric currents transferred from his hand and to Mark.

"WHAT THE-!" Mark screeched as he was jolted awake, but his surprised cry was cut off as he fell off the edge of the bed in a mad panic after his rude awakening. Mark sat up, clutching his heart as he starred up at Sam in rage. "AGAIN!? STOP ELECTROCUTING ME YOU ASS!"

Sam jumped backwards and tried to stifle his mad laugher. Mark, still slumped on the ground, lunged forward and wrapped his arms around Sam's right leg. He clung on ferociously while Sam attempted to shake him off as he laughed uncontrollably.

"VENGEANCE WILL BE MINE!" Mark threw his head back and shrieked, his voice cracked and goblin-like.

"Stop!" Sam yelled, clutching his side from laughing too hard. "Cut it out."

Sam shook his leg furiously, eventually shaking Mark off, who slumped to the ground and lay on his back. Still standing in the doorway, were Josh, Heather and Bella, who were all laughing hysterically at what they had just witnessed. Bella turned off her camera and held onto the doorframe for support as her body shook with raucous laughter.

"That's gotta be one of the best reactions yet," Josh stated as he wiped a tear from his eye and took deep breaths to try and calm himself.

"Well I'm glad I amuse you," Mark responded bitterly as he sat up and rubbed his arm. "That really hurt."

Heather gave one final cackle before darting off down the hallway with Bella and Josh in tow, their laughter carrying as they descended down the stairs. Phoenix walked towards Mark and offered a hand to him. He accepted, and Phoenix pulled him to his feet in one swift and easy move.

"Sam I need to run through something with you, and seeing as how neither of you have had breakfast, let's meet in the kitchen," Phoenix suggested. "You can sit in on this if you want Mark."

"What exactly would I be sitting in on?" Mark asked, trailing after Phoenix and Sam who walked side by side down the hallway.

"Tony's sending me some information that I might need Sam's help to decipher," Phoenix informed him. "There's also another matter that I need help with. I'm putting together a plan, but I need to gather the facts first. This is a shadow operation, meaning we can't mention anything to Jorge."

Mark and Sam stopped in their tracks and stared at Phoenix who continued walking. "If you're sneaking around Jorge, then that's means you're planning something you shouldn't be," Sam stated. "Does this have anything to do with what we found on that USB yesterday?"

Phoenix hesitated as she reached the bottom step, but continued moving after a second, ignoring Sam's question as she walked into the kitchen and turned on the stove. Sam made eye contact with Mark and rolled his eyes, silently expressing his emotions with a small smirk. Sam took a seat next to Mark at the kitchen bench.

Phoenix darted around them and picked up her laptop, adorned with an excessive amount of Iron Man stickers, off the dining table and handed it to Sam. "If you open my emails you'll find something from Tony," Phoenix informed him as she retrieved four eggs from the fridge and cracked each of them into a bowl as she continued talking. "I want you to tell me what it says."

Mark peered over Sam's shoulder as he opened her laptop and turned it on, waiting patiently for it to finish loading. Phoenix's desktop was laid out with the upmost organisational skills, making it easy to find her emails. Sam opened the most recent email and adjusted his glasses before he began reading.

"Hey Firebird, I've attached all the information you wanted. Banner devoted a lot of his spare time to this research, there's a lot of information in here that I can't make heads or tails of. You'll need an expert to decipher it, but Good Luck trying to find what you're looking for," Sam read from the email and looked up at Phoenix in confusion. "Firebird?"

"Tony has a liking to ridiculous nicknames," Phoenix clarified as she leaned across the kitchen bench. "I was worried that the research would be complex. Open the attachment and I'll try reading it, but it sounds like it's going to be a dead end."

"What research is it?" Mark asked, craning his head to get a better look as Sam opened the attached file.

"It's everything," Phoenix responded as Sam's eyes were flooded with page after page of writing, graphs, diagrams, all compiled into a massive collection of scientific research. "It's everything that Bruce Banner was able to discover about our genetics. The last time I spoke to him, he told me that he had found something he wanted to talk to me about in person but now-"

"He's taken off," Mark finished her sentence with a blank face. "We might have all his research, but Banner was the only one who could actually tell us about our genetics. If he's gone, we have no one who actually knows what that serum did to us. We have no idea what's wrong with us."

"Exactly," Phoenix sighed. "I have an idea but it's far-fetched."

"Far-fetched is better than nothing. What's your idea?" Sam asked, leaning in closer to Phoenix. Mark shot him a glare from the corner of his eye and leaned forward as well.

"Well, our best option right now is a hunch based on outdated information," Phoenix told them. "There's someone who might be able to help us, a scientist who worked on the Bio-Tech Enhancement Project with Banner, and survived the original attack by the Hulk."

"So we just email the guy and-" Sam suggested, but was cut off by Phoenix.

"No," she told him sternly. "Emails are too easy to trace. We need to meet him in person. I was planning a trip to the same city anyway, it fits in almost perfectly with what my idea. I just hope this isn't anything more than a coincidence"

"Hold on," Sam held up a hand as he spoke. "We can't just go flying into this without any idea of what we're doing."

"I've got a plan," Phoenix informed him, dodging the question with a statement she hoped wouldn't sprout any more questions. "Tell the other Experiments to meet me in the living room in an hour, and make sure you're there to. I can't sit by and ignore this, we have to do something about it."

* * *

Mark heard voices coming towards him from down the hallway. Looking up, he saw Sam enter the room, wrapped up in an intense discussion with Heather and Josh. Mark's eyes wavered to the corner of the room where Bella was curled up in the armchair, doing something on her phone. She glanced up briefly, but went back to what she was doing, whereas Mark decided to pay close attention as to what was being said, and managed to catch the last part of Sam's sentence.

"-strange lately. By strange, I mean even more cryptic and secretive than usual," Sam shrugged as he moved around Heather and flopped onto the couch. "I think she's shaken up about what we found yesterday. Whatever Project Achilles is, it has her terrified. I mean, any mention of...you know who...and she breaks down."

"You know who?" Heather repeated, scoffing as she mocked his words. "He's not Voldemort Sam."

"He might as well be," Josh joked.

"I'm being serious guys," Sam deadpanned. "We've just found out that he was involved with a super-secret Hydra project, that's enough to make Phoenix a complete mess. The only way she seems to be able to hold it together is by planning another mission."

Mark pursed his lips sourly at the mention of Phoenix's name. He guessed that they were most likely talking about her, but Sam mentioning her name was proof. They had no right to talk about her behind her back, especially when she had been so heavily affected by yesterday's events.

"Don't criticise her," Mark snapped.

Sam turned his head to glare at Mark. "I'm expressing my opinion. I agree that Project Achilles is probably a dangerous threat, but rushing into this is a bad decision, and it's a risk that we aren't prepared to take. I'm willing to support Phoenix, but not if we're doing something insane."

"We aren't," Phoenix announced, making her presence known

The Experiments whipped their heads around to the doorway, to see Phoenix standing there, carrying her laptop in hand, easily recognisable by the covering of Iron Man stickers. She stood with her hip cocked to one side and watched all of them with a flat expression. The Experiments watched her move across the room and place her laptop on the coffee table in front of them.

The room was silent as Phoenix leaned forward to start up her computer, staring at the screen with complete concentration while The Experiments watched her, waiting for her to open her mouth and say something. Bella rose from the armchair and joined the group on the couch, who had all huddled together, waiting for Phoenix to deliver the news.

Phoenix turned her laptop around so The Experiments could see what she had brought up on the screen. "Tell me what you see," Phoenix ordered, standing up straight as she folded her arms across her chest and looked down at them expectantly.

"It looks like a strand of DNA," Josh responded, and he was correct. The image on the screen presented as a digital recreation of a strand of DNA, its strands appearing as various different colours. Josh looked up at Phoenix with raised eyebrows. "If you need a tutor for biology, you could just ask."

"Yes it's an image of DNA," Phoenix informed them, ignoring Josh's comment. "Specifically, it's a strand of my DNA. Banner was analysing it, and while I have no idea exactly what he found. I know that he wrote something underneath it that said; _severe abnormalities present_."

The room was silent for a second before Bella spoke. "That sounds really bad."

"Banner is in the wind, but luckily for us, Tony gave me all the research Banner conducted on our blood and tissue samples," Phoenix spoke, closing her laptop shut. "I know someone who might be able to decipher this information, or at least point us in the right direction, but that's not the main topic I want to discuss. There's something else we need to investigate, something that could prove to be a dangerous threat."

"Project Achilles," The Experiments spoke in unison, briefly turning to look at each other in surprise before they turned back to Phoenix.

"If the Doctor was involved, then I know a place that could give us the information we want," Phoenix stumbled over her words as she choked out the official title of the man who's name she could never bear to speak aloud. The Experiments audibly gasped as they realised what Phoenix had said. She tightened her face, speaking in a deeper and rough voice. "I'm done playing the pronoun game. If we want to figure out what this is, we can't afford to be scared over nothing."

Heather felt Phoenix's anguish flood her own mind through the link. She wanted to tell her that it wasn't nothing, that she had every right to be scared. She kept quiet however, knowing that Phoenix was using every bit of her willpower not to breakdown.

"Conveniently, the person who might be able to help us with the research on our genetics, is in the same city where I predict the Project Achilles information is most likely going to be stored," Phoenix announced. "The only thing is, the place I want to go to, is pretty far away."

"How far away?" Sam asked, his voice flat.

"London," Phoenix answered.

"London as in London, Ohio or London, England?" Mark asked, his eyes wide.

"London, England," Phoenix clarified.

"The Mother Country is a pretty long way to go for a scientist who may or may not even live there, and the possibility that a place still exists that might hold the information we want about Project Achilles," Josh stated, his eyebrows rising even higher in scepticism.

"I understand that it's far-fetched, but I'm not planning on backing down from this," Phoenix responded, running a hand over her forehead. "That's why I've made the decision to wait it out. We finish school on the 29th of May, so I've decided to leave when summer break starts. That way, we don't arouse any more suspicion than we need to. You don't have to come with me, I can do this on my own. But I would appreciate the help."

"I'm always with you Phoenix," Heather spoke first, shooting her friend a smile as she nodded along with Phoenix's plan.

"It sounds pretty exciting, so I'm down," Mark agreed, turning to grin at the person sitting next to him, which happened to be Bella.

Bella nodded and shrugged. "I've heard London's not a bad place to visit."

"Y'all are crazy," Sam stated with a blank face. "But what's one more sprinkle of crazy on the serving of nutcase."

All eyes in the room turned to the stoic Josh, who was known for being the most disagreeable in the group. His empty stare broke, and he shrugged dismissively. "Sure, let's go to London, why the hell not? What's the worst that could happen."

"There are risks," Phoenix warned. "Since both Alexander Pierce and The Doctor worked on Project Achilles, we can safely assume that it was a Hydra project. If we do this, we run the risk of getting mixed up with Hydra. If Hydra got their hands on us...it would be disastrous."

Josh looked extremely doubtful. "So getting caught by Hydra is the worst that could happen. That's great, just what I wanted."

"The other problem is that Natasha told me specifically not to do this, and she'll realise that I'm gone pretty much straight away," Phoenix added, her voice grim. "We're using Tony's funds to finance this trip, so it'll be easy for her to track us. I honestly wouldn't put it past Natasha to come after us."

"I retract my original statement, getting caught by the Black Widow is the worst that could happen," Josh changed his mind.

Heather rose to her feet, smiling warmly at Phoenix as she stood beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I've pissed of Natasha more times than I can count, what's one more frowny face on my record," Heather joked, shrugging nonchalantly.

Phoenix nodded in thanks, but a dark feeling brewed in her stomach. She would be leading them right into the heart of the Databank, the heart of Doctor Blake's most heavily secured compound. It was the place where he stored his secrets. There was no telling what horrors they would uncover.


	5. The Databank

**A/N: I'm really sorry I didn't upload last night. I was really tired and I just fell asleep, but here's Chapter 5, only slightly late. We have a time jump in this chapter of about three weeks as The Experiments are leaving for London. Expect some interesting things in this chapter and don't forget to read, review and enjoy.**

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"The atmosphere in this airport is setting me on edge," Phoenix commented to Heather as they took a step forward in the security check-in line. "Is it really necessary to do such extensive baggage searches. This is extreme paranoia, we aren't criminals."

Heather wanted to open her mouth and state that they were in fact criminals. Using illegal means, Phoenix had gotten her hands on a suitcase that would fool X-Ray scanning, allowing The Experiments to transport their gear and weapons without being detected by overzealous border security. They were practically smugglers. However stating this fact aloud would get them arrested.

The Experiments were still stuck in the security check-in line, waiting to put their handheld luggage through the scanner and pass through into the gate lounge. Heather stood at the front of the line, since she was so well-versed in traveling overseas. Phoenix stood directly behind her, then Josh, Mark, Bella and Sam, who was holding up the rear.

"Haven't you ever been in an airport before?" Josh asked.

"No," Phoenix answered, attempting to crane her head to look past Heather's blonde curls, and to see how much longer they had to wait in line. "I wasn't a legal citizen, so whenever I left the country, I had to be smuggled out in the Doctor's private jet."

Each of them, except for Sam, made it through security without any issues. Sam was pulled aside and frisked, simply based off the fact that he looked menacing. The Experiments watched as Sam stared at them awkwardly while the security officer checked him up and down.

Once they were free, Phoenix directed them towards the gate in a sharp tone. Upon their arrival at the gate, they discovered that most of the seats were filled. Heather found a seat with Josh, while Sam and Bella found somewhere on the other side of the gate, and Phoenix sat in a seat near Heather and Josh, with Mark eagerly throwing himself down in the seat next to her.

Heather and Josh exchanged idle conversation, mostly pointless things. At one point, they were riffling through a gossip magazine in an attempt to find the most ridiculous, and fake, piece of news. Heather glanced upwards once or twice to watch Mark talking to Phoenix. She fought back the urge to laugh at Mark's hopeless attempts.

Heather was growing uncomfortable with the hard metal of the chair pressing into her back, so she shifted around slightly, accidentally bumping her arm into the woman sitting beside her. The woman shot her a look, and Heather mumbled sorry in response.

As she settled into a more comfortable position, a sharp jab of pain struck her temples. Heather winced, and placed a hand on the side of her head. Just when she thought the moment had passed, another strike of pain hit her. She leaned forward, biting her lip against the pain.

 _Funny looking blonde girl, she's got some kind of colour to her skin, what is she? Half-Black? She's not Asian, her eyes aren't slanted._

Oh god, Heather turned her head, looking at the woman who quickly averted her gaze when Heather glanced over at her. Heather's eyes went wide, it was happening again. Heather frantically grabbed for her bag, rummaging through it with panic lurking in the back of her mind.

She heard the murmuring, crawling through the back of her mind. Voices, one after the after, echoing together all at once. So many of them, all taking at once. Voices, voices, talking so loud. All of them, so many, they're so loud. They're screaming in her head. It won't stop. Why won't they stop?

Heather's hands grasped the pill bottle, and with shaking fingers, she opened the lid and slid a pill into her hand. With a relieved sigh, she popped the pill into her mouth, ears ringing. Heather clasped her hands together, nails digging into her skin as she bit back the pain. 15 minutes, she had to last 15 minutes before it started working.

Why were the voices so loud?

They screamed in her head.

Their words grew one over the other and morphed into a singular scream of noise.

Josh realised that something was wrong and leaned closer to Heather, placing a gentle hand on her leg. "You're not looking so hot. Are you ok?" he asked, his voice soft as he spoke in concern.

"Yeah I'm fine," Heather choked out. "Stress headache, I'm fine, it'll pass."

"Are you sure, I can get Phoenix-"

"No," Heather snapped sharply, a hand on her temples. "Don't get Phoenix, I told you, I'm fine."

"Do you want some water?" Josh asked, pulling the water bottle from his backpack, he handed it to Heather. "You look paler than normal. If you're paler than normal does that mean you're dehydrated? I never really paid attention during PE, what are the signs of dehydration again?"

"The signs of dehydration are headaches, dizziness, nausea, fainting, highly concentrated urine, palpitations and an increase in body temperature," Heather told him, taking the water bottle from his hands, she took a tentative sip. "And I look pale today because I'm wearing heavy makeup, which includes white powder."

The voices were beginning to fade slowly from her mind. Heather breathed a deep sigh of relief, her hands shaking as she lowered them from her temples. She handed the water bottle back to Josh, a grateful smile tugging at her lips as she felt her mind becoming numb, and the pain faded.

"Why do you do that?" Josh asked, sounding disappointed. "Paint yourself white. Shouldn't you be proud of who you are."

"That's easy for you to say, you're 100% white, you get privileges. Being Half-Indian is not luxurious," Heather shook her head as she spoke. "When you're going through airport security, the less coloured you are the better. My Maji, the last time we visited India, she came to the airport and a security officer followed her around the entire time. All because of the colour of her skin. I don't appreciate going through the same hassles. With blonde hair, I can pass for white as long as I apply heavy makeup."

Josh seemed to consider her answer for a minute before he spoke. "How did you end up with curly blonde hair anyway?" He asked.

"My dad's strong European genetics," Heather answered with a shrug. "I lucked out with the hair to be honest."

The voices were gone, completely numbed by the tablet. Only now, that it was all over, she thought about what had happened. She had never missed a pill, she religiously followed her prescription schedule. And yet still, it had worn off before it was supposed to, leaving her bombarded with the thoughts of every single person in the gate lounge. It had never happened before, ever. If her medication eventually stopped working altogether, she wouldn't be able to survive. She prayed it wouldn't come to that.

A woman in uniform approached the loudspeaker and announced that they were boarding first class and business, meaning that those in economy would be boarding soon. Phoenix made eye contact with Heather and nodded, before she turned her head around to convey the same silent message to Bella.

Phoenix was behaving strange, even by her standards. Heather couldn't be sure if it was Project Achilles or the issue with their DNA that was setting Phoenix on edge. It was probably a combination of the two. Heather knew that Phoenix had every right to be upset. She knew, probably better than anyone, how much Phoenix had suffered at the hands of Doctor Blake. This was no doubt bringing back painful memories for her.

The group rose to their feet and converged together in the centre of the lines of chairs. "We've got seats 72 A, B and C, and 73 A, B and C," Phoenix informed the group and handed out the tickets accordingly. "I'll go with Bella and Heather in row 72. Boys, you can sit behind us in row 73."

They made it onto the plane after standing in line for close to ten minutes in the long wait to board. They formed a single file line as they walked on the plane, with Bella leading the group. However, a distinct fear of flying started to show itself in Bella's features as she stuttered a jittery hello to the stewardess waiting for them at the door.

Bella took her seat by the window, taking deep breaths as she stared dead ahead at the screen fitted into the back of the seat in front of her. Heather took the middle seat next to Bella, after Phoenix insisted that she be the one in the aisle seat since it was the best position to fend off an attack.

Heather had been travelling overseas since she was a baby, airplanes were familiar to her. She wasn't quite sure what to say to someone terrified of flying. She didn't have to say anything though, because as Phoenix sat down in the aisle seat, she reached her hand across.

Heather watched as Bella flinched when Phoenix took her hand. Phoenix made eye contact for a second, and nodded reassuringly. Her usually stony features softened for a second, before she looked down, almost embarrassed, and drew her hand away.

Phoenix brushed a hair from her face, clearing her throat in an attempt to pretend that nothing had happened as she directed her attention to the safety pamphlet. Even more surprising, when Heather turned back to Bella, she saw that she had calmed down significantly.

Behind the girls, Sam was standing underneath the overhead compartment, putting away their hand-held luggage as they handed it to him one by one. He finished packing it all away and slammed the compartment shut. As he looked down at the only vacant seat in row 73, he sighed.

"Dude," Sam tapped Mark on the shoulder. "Move down one."

Mark looked at the aisle seat he was sitting in, before he flicked his gaze to the empty middle seat. "No, I'm sitting here," he told Sam, stubbornly folding his arms to further prove his point.

"I'm gonna have to clamber over you to get to that seat," Sam informed him in a matter-of-fact manner, his Southern accent becoming stronger as he began to grow irritated. "Just move down one seat, it'll make all of our lives easier."

"No," Mark repeated stubbornly. "I want the aisle seat."

Upon the realisation that he couldn't argue with Mark, Sam muttered a curse word, and proceeded to make his way past Mark's legs by almost climbing over the top of him. Phoenix rolled her eyes so far upwards it looked like they were about to roll out of her head.

Heather snickered and leaned in closer to Phoenix, a hand covering her mouth as she whispered. "Mark is doing whatever he can to be as close to you as possible."

"I've noticed," Phoenix responded flatly in a low voice.

"He's kinda cute, and he's funny," Heather commented, wearing a mischievous grin. "That's always really important in a guy. I mean, I'm not into him, he's a bit too arrogant, but that doesn't mean he has a terrible personality, some people are into that. I'm getting off point, anyway, what do you think of him?"

"We're on a mission Heather," Phoenix chided her, shooting down the conversation before it even began.

* * *

Once they landed in Heathrow and made it through border security, Phoenix took off after giving the group a sharp command to wait exactly where they were. They waited out the front of the airport for close to half an hour, sitting on the ground with their bags stacked beside them.

Eventually, a grey minivan pulled up on the sidewalk in front of them. The passenger side door was pushed open, to reveal Phoenix in the driver's seat, looking at them expectantly. Sam reacted first and began to pile their bags into the trunk.

"What the hell Phoenix?" Heather demanded as she sat in the passenger's seat while the rest of their group piled into the backseat. "How exactly did you get your hands on a minivan."

"Illegally,"' Phoenix answered simply as she shifted into drive. "I got it from a rental place down the road. There weren't many option for vehicles that seat more than five people. It was either this or a busted up white van, I thought this would be more conspicuous."

"We've been in this country less than an hour and you've already stolen a minivan. You are physically incapable of obeying the law," Josh shook his head as he spoke, sighing dramatically as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Where are we going Phoenix?"

Phoenix was silent for several seconds, her knuckles turned white as she clenched the wheel. "The Databank," Phoenix answered coldly.

The minivan was silent for a moment while The Experiments looked at each other, trying to see if anyone knew what the Databank was. No one seemed to know, so Heather directed her attention back to Phoenix. "What exactly is the Databank?"

Phoenix didn't answer, and remained in complete silence with her eyes on the road. Whatever it was, it wasn't good, that much was obvious. Phoenix was acting like a statue again, in order to hide an emotion she didn't want the others to see.

The drive was short, lasting only a few minutes before Phoenix turned the corner and came to a barrier which surprisingly lifted as they approached. The backstreet Phoenix had turned onto was a laneway running behind the row of shops, and at the end of the laneway there was a large building with a golden plague on it that read _'Phoenix Court'_.

"Well that's either irony, a coincidence or it's related somehow," Sam absently muttered to himself, eyes darting up and down the street as he climbed out from the minivan. He turned to the others and spoke so they could hear him. "I thought we were going to London."

"Technically this is London, but it's just the outer edges of it. Once we're done here, we'll head into the city centre," Phoenix announced as she jumped from the minivan, gun in hand.

"Put that away!" Heather exclaimed with a hiss, eyes frantically searching the surrounding area for any other signs of life. "Someone might see us."

Phoenix put a finger to her lip and made eye contact with Heather, a signal for her to be quiet. Phoenix held her gun at her side with two hands, and slowly stepped towards the building. She peered around the corner at the side of the building, before she darted down the small pathway between two buildings.

Minutes later, she reappeared, now holding her gun casually in her right hand. "All clear," she announced, leaning around the corner of the building. "Let's keep moving, I don't want to stay here any longer than we need to."

In a single file, with Phoenix at the lead, they slunk around the building, down the narrow pathway between the two buildings. Phoenix came to a halt in front of an old power box that appeared to be rusted shut. She prised at it for a few seconds, before she managed to slam it open with a metallic bang.

Inside the power box, was a sophisticated and elaborate hand mould fitted into the wall with glowing lights and grooves inside of it. Phoenix placed her hand into the groove, and a green beam of light moved over her hand before the machine beeped twice, and the sound of clanging erupted from behind the wall.

A section of the wall slid sideways, revealing an open elevator in perfect condition. Phoenix motioned for them to hurry inside, which they obeyed. Phoenix stepped inside last, and the second she was inside, the doors closed behind her.

 _"Voice recognition required,"_ a feminine robotic voice spoke through the speakers, making all of them jump aside from Phoenix. _"Please state your name and authorisation."_

"Phoenix," she spoke her name clearly. "Authorisation H-L-X-1-3-7."

There was a pause filled with tension before a button to their left flashed green, signalling that they were clear. Josh turned to Phoenix, eyebrows raised, and an obvious concerned look on his face as he stared at the surprisingly calm Phoenix.

"I assume this is where we'll find the information about Project Achilles?" He guessed. "This is the Doctor's facility isn't it?"

"One of them," Phoenix answered, her voice quiet. "He had facilities all over the globe. Well, they were more safe houses really, similar to the one we stayed at in New York. Back when I was still… Anyway, this one isn't a safe house, it's something else entirely."

The elevator jarred to a stop, knocking them off balance with its shaking. Once it steadied, the doors slid open, revealing a sight in front of them that proved true Phoenix's statement. Whatever it was, the place they now stood in, was definitely not a safe house.

The room was shaped like a semi-circle, with a large monitor taking up the entire wall at the other end of the room. Desks lined the room from one end to the other, each with their own computers. It was a giant room, looking as if it usually contained upwards of twenty people working within it. However, the room was completely empty.

They stepped out the elevator, taking hesitant steps one after the other, cautious of the darkened room ahead of them. Heather turned back to see that Phoenix was frozen to the spot, staring ahead of her instead of moving. She came to her senses after a minute and gathered herself.

"It's bigger than you think," Phoenix cleared her throat and started running off information to the group as she walked past them with large strides, heading for the monitor at the front of the room. "The doors to your left and right connect to hallways and staircases leading all over the underground complex. It's primarily designed for information collection and storage, but the place has a few other secrets. Stick to this room, don't go through any of the doors."

Sam found the light switch on the wall and flicked it on, and the room exploded with bright white lights, making it significantly easier to see. Josh, who was inspecting the desks, flicked his eyes upwards to the wall on the right hand side of the room. The painted symbol was hard to miss, in its massive circular size that took up a significant portion of the wall. It was easily identifiable. The skull face with red tentacles, painted in sharp colours of red and black.

"Hydra," Josh breathed, staring up at the symbol with his eyes wide. "I thought this was the Doctor's facility?"

"It was," Phoenix answered, stopping in front of the large monitor, she begun to work away at the computer on the desk in front of it. "Hydra gave the Doctor several of their best technicians to work here, and in return, The Doctor let them have access to every single bit of information The Databank collected."

"If this place was such a big deal then why was it just abandoned?" Bella asked, moving to stand beside Josh and stare up at the Hydra symbol.

"When the Doctor was captured by SHIELD the fail safe was initiated," Phoenix explained. "Everyone was ordered to leave the building in case of a security leak and the whole place was locked down. It was meant to be reinstated once The Doctor finished off the Avengers, but that never happened. The only way to end the lockdown is with voice recognition, and only two people in the entire world have an authorisation code for that."

"You and the Doctor," Mark guessed.

Phoenix nodded, and looked as if she wanted to give another explanation, but something stopped her. She opened her mouth, and stuttered before she shook her head and looked away, fixating her eyes on the computer in front of her. After another minute of typing, the large monitor on the wall activated.

"I can't believe it still works," Phoenix murmured before she spoke up to address her team. "I'm going to try looking through local files for Project Achilles, if I can't find it, I may need to dig deeper. We have to tread carefully though, my authorisation code only goes so far."

Sam stayed close by Phoenix while she opened every folder she could find in the hopes of discovering Project Achilles. The others wandered aimlessly around the room, scanning the place up and down for anything of interest. There was nothing to be found except old computers, the place was a ghost town.

"I got something!" Phoenix called them over. They gathered around her, holding their breaths as Phoenix told them of her findings. "An entire folder entitled Project Achilles. It's filled with documents, videos, research notes, schematics, blueprints and god knows how much more. We've found it, all of it. Everything even remotely related to the Project is in here."

Phoenix opened the folder and it appeared on the monitor in front of him, almost immediately, something caught their eye. Sam pointed at one of the first documents he saw. "The Manhattan Project, open it," he commanded. "Please don't be what I think it is."

Phoenix clicked open the document and the monitor was filled with hand written notes, black and white photographs of scientists working near machinery, reports and document after document of research. The thing that took stood out, was a black and white image of a metal cylindrical object with what looked like a square tail on the end of it.

Underneath the image, was a caption that read _'Little Boy'._

"Shit!" Sam exclaimed, taking a step back, he ran his hands through his hair. "God I hate being right."

"No they wouldn't," Heather shook her head, her voice trembling fervently. "They can't. Not even Hydra would do something so horrific."

"Slow down," Phoenix looked at her friends in confusion, turning her head back and forth between the monitor and Heather. "What's the Manhattan Project?"

"The atomic bomb," Heather answered. "The Manhattan Project was the project that developed nuclear weapons to gain the advantage against the Japanese during World War 2. They dropped two atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Between the two attacks, hundreds of thousands of people were killed."

"If Hydra recreated the atomic bomb..." Bella started to say something, but trailed off. The fear gripped her, making it almost impossible to speak.

"Before we jump to conclusions we need to be absolutely sure," Phoenix reassured the group, who had all taken a collective step back, away from the monitor. Phoenix closed the Manhattan Project file and began going through the rest of the Project Achilles folder. "I've found a video file, _Achilles Final Test/Demonstration_."

"Play it," Heather nodded to her, giving Phoenix the all clear.

The video began playing, and showed a group of people sat around a table in a stone building with large glass windows to the left. Phoenix recognised nearly everyone seated at the table, and began pointing them out with a scowl on her face as she did so.

"Von Strucker, Dr List, Daniel Whitehall, Sunil Bakshi, The Baroness, The Banker, The Sheikh, Octavian Bloom, John Garret," Phoenix listed off the names as she pointed to each one of them. "They're all high ranking members of Hydra. If they've gathered for something, it can't be good."

On the screen, two people walked into the room, both recognisable, but one face in particular stuck out to all of them. It was hard to forget the face of the monster that had haunted them for so long. Alexander Pierce, and much more frightening, Doctor Blake walked into the room. Doctor Blake greeted the Hydra members one by one, making his way around the table before he took his place standing next to Alexander Pierce.

Pierce stepped forward, addressing all of them. "Ladies and Gentlemen welcome to our first public demonstration of Project Achilles," Pierce welcomed them happily with open arms. "Don't worry, we didn't drag you all out into the desert for no reason. The demonstration has to be conducted as far from civilisation as possible because of its volatile nature, I'm sure you all understand. My good friend Doctor Blake and I have worked on this project for years, and he'll give you a quick explanation before we fire her up. Doctor?"

"Thank you Pierce," Doctor Blake nodded and stepped forward. His voice was exactly how they remembered it, cold, ordinary, calm. It was like every time he spoke he was teaching a class, so ordinary sounding that it scared them. The calm polite exterior, hiding a double edged sword.

"I'm sure you have all heard of the atomic bomb, and you know of the damage just one of these weapons can do to a city," Doctor Blake began. "Imagine an atomic bomb that does not give off any radiation and cannot be detected on any scanners. It does not need to be dropped from a plane or smuggled into a city, it can simply be walked in and left to detonate. That, my dear friends, is what we have achieved with Project Achilles. It is capable of mass destruction on a level triple that of the original atomic bomb."

"It sounds like you've achieved the impossible Blake," Von Struker spoke up, announcing his scepticism.

"No, not impossible," Doctor Blake gestured to the large windows and smiled. "See for yourself." The members of Hydra turned in their chairs to face the window as Doctor Blake continued talking. "The explosion will be quite violent and since it is very hard to cover up a bomb going off, we've had to take extreme measure to keep this under wraps, but it is well worth the effort my friends."

The camera turned to face the windows. For a minute, all they could see was an expanse of empty desert. However, in the distance, were small specks that looked like buildings, but they were incredibly far away. A countdown started, and when it reached one, it happened.

The camera shook as the ground trembled and a giant pillar of flames shot out from the ground, reaching close to 150ft in height. The pillar exploded and shot outwards in every direction, the flames of the explosion obliterating everything in its path. In seconds, it tore the small makeshift town apart and kept moving. An unstoppable force that only dissipated when it had come incredibly close to the building the Hydra members were in. it faded away and collapsed, leaving the entire desert scorched and black.

Doctor Blake turned to the members Hydra who seemed frozen in their shock. "There are still some small issues regarding controlling it, that I must address before it can be distributed," Doctor Blake explained calmly. "In any one direction, I would estimate that the blast reaches 5 miles. Giving it a rough diameter of 10 miles.

"That kind of explosion would wipe out an entire city," Von Struker mused. "Well done Blake. Project Achilles is to be kept as our prime weapon in the upcoming war against SHIELD. With this, we will be unstoppable."

Phoenix's hands found the computer and she shut off video immediately. The Experiments were too stunned to say anything, they were each waiting in the hopes that someone might speak up, but there were no words to be found.

Phoenix's eyes flicked to the timestamp on the video file. "12th of October 2013," she muttered quietly to herself, so no one else could hear. "The times match up."

"We still haven't finished going through the files," Mark stated, trying to keep his voice calm. "Something in here might give us more answers about Project Achilles. Mark took a step forward and reached for the computer. Phoenix saw what he was about to open and her eyes widened.

"NO!" Phoenix cried out. She reached out and grabbed his arm to stop him, but it was too late. Mark opened the file entitled _Project Achilles: Subject Information_. But, the file didn't open. Instead the screen turned to static and the lights blacked out around them. After a second, the static cleared, and Doctor Blake appeared on the screen.

" _You've disobeyed me Phoenix."_


	6. The Sympathy

**A/N: Would you look at that, I'm actually uploading on time today. Things are really getting interesting now for Phoenix and The Experiments. I really love writing about these characters, and I'm so motivated to keep writing this story. But I'm just the writer, and more than anything I want you guys to love it as well. As always, don't forget to read, review and enjoy.**

* * *

Phoenix's exterior crumbled as she stared up at the all too familiar face of Doctor Blake. She made a whimpering noise as she placed a hand over her mouth and stumbled backwards. She shook her head fearfully, her entire body trembling as she fought back sobs.

 _"You don't have access to these files Phoenix,"_ the recorded video of Doctor Blake scolded her, his words striking like ice. _"You've disobeyed my direct order, and any disobedience must be punished. One, two, three. One, two, three. One, two, three. One, two, three. One, two, three. One, two, three. One, two, three. One, two, three."_

Doctor Blake continued repeating himself slowly and steadily and with every word Phoenix was becoming progressively unhinged. She fell to her knees, crying and begging for it to stop. She curled her hands into fists and began hitting herself in the head and pulling at her own hair.

Heather didn't know what to do. She had never seen a breakdown this bad before, and with Doctor Blake repeating himself over and over again on the screen she knew it was only going to get worse. Heather got down to her knees and tried to coax Phoenix back into reality but nothing was working.

"NO!" Phoenix howled. "I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, PLEASE DONT HURT ME! I'M SORRY!"

Sam looked around frantically, desperate to find something to stop the video so they could help Phoenix. No matter how many times Sam pressed escape on the computer keyboard or furiously clicked the mouse, nothing was working. The video relentlessly continued. In a blind fury, Sam lashed out with his fist and punched the computer.

Sparks flew out from the computer and the video being played on the monitor glitched several times, before it stopped altogether and the screen went dark. Sam drew his hand away, wincing as he looked down and saw his reddened and cut knuckles.

Now the only sound that could be heard was Phoenix crying as she fell to the ground and lay on her side, attempting to curl into the foetal position as she trembled from head to toe. The video now over, Phoenix had calmed down significantly, but she her body still shook in fear.

"Phoenix?" Heather asked gently, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder.

Phoenix flinched at Heather's touch, but it seemed to jar her back into reality as she pushed herself into an upright sitting position. Heather helped pull her to her feet but Phoenix shoved her away and stepped backwards, running shaking hands through her hair.

"We can't stay here," Phoenix mumbled, her voice cracking as she tried to speak up. She was staring ahead at nothing in particular with wide eyes and a vacant expression, as she brought her hand down to cover her mouth. "Too risky. Security alert. Hydra will find us. We've got to get out. We have to…"

Phoenix trailed off, her words escaping her as she inhaled a deep breath. She stepped backwards, her hands finding the wall behind her. As she looked up, she saw the painted Hydra symbol sneering down at her, like it knew every dirty secret.

"Get out," Phoenix instructed her team coldly while keeping her eyes fixed on the symbol. "Go wait for me in the minivan. There's something I need to do first."

The Experiments hesitated, seeing how distraught Phoenix was, they knew that leaving her alone would be dangerous. Phoenix refused to meet their eyes, and eventually they began walking towards the elevator. They stepped inside and the second the doors closed on Phoenix, The Experiments turned to address each other.

"This is bad," Sam breathed, his voice coated with panic. "This is really bad. What are we going to do?"

"We wait for Phoenix," Heather answered firmly. "She'll know what to do next."

"I don't think Phoenix is in the right frame of mind right now Heather," Bella chided her. "What are we even meant to do if we lose Phoenix? The team can't function without her. What if she has another severe breakdown and we lose her completely?"

"And what about Project Achilles?" Josh demanded. "A freaking bomb, it's a freaking atomic bomb! Maniac Nazis who want to kill everyone are in possession of an atomic bomb! Even if we were all mentally healthy, we still can't stop a freaking atomic bomb!"

"Calm down. Like I said, the best thing we can do right now is wait for Phoenix," Heather repeated. "We'll work this out together, as a team."

Heather's sharp expression was a clear indication that she didn't want to be argued with. As the elevator doors opened, Mark rolled his eyes and muttered; "Teamwork, yay."

The minivan waited where they left it, parked half on the curb. Heather resumed her position in the passenger seat while they patiently waited in silence for Phoenix to return. The waiting went on for a while, no one dared to speak up. What could they possibly say? After what just occurred inside the Databank, nothing could be said to improve the situation.

"What was that countdown thing on the recorded message?" Bella questioned. "Doctor Blake counted to three over and over again and it set Phoenix off. She was terrified of Doctor Blake to begin with, but I think that countdown is what led her to an episode. Why was Phoenix so affected by it?"

Heather cleared her throat, thinking of how to answer Bella's question. "I'd say the countdown was a trigger," Heather guessed. "We know that Doctor Blake used torture to condition Phoenix, it's probably something meant to indicate pain or punishment."

"We shouldn't have left Phoenix on her own," Bella spoke quietly, her voice cracking. "She's harmed herself before. What's to say she won't do it again?"

"She won't," Heather answered, attempting to sound certain of herself, even though she'd been fearing the exact same thing. "Those were different circumstances." With the final word from Heather, everyone in the car once again fell silent.

Everyone was too wrapped up in their own thoughts, that they didn't even notice Phoenix walking towards them. She loudly threw open the driver's side door, causing The Experiments to jump at the sight of her. Phoenix barely even noticed, she simply sat down and rested her forehead on the steering wheel, taking deep breaths in order to calm herself.

Her eyes were red and her hair had somehow escaped it's ponytail and fell in a tumbling mess of red around her head. She smelled like smoke, and even worse, there was blood underneath her fingernails, and her knuckles were bright red.

"Do you need me to drive?" Bella asked quietly, leaning forward to place a hand on the back of Phoenix's seat.

"No," Phoenix responded flatly.

Phoenix turned the keys and shifted the car into reverse and did a three point turn before she shifted into drive and took off down the road. The car was silent as Phoenix took them on an unknown route. It really hit Heather for the first time that they were in London as she looked out the window and saw everyone driving on the wrong side of the road.

The silence of the car was broken most surprisingly by Phoenix. "I made a mistake taking you to the Databank. This is on me. I thought I could handle it but I was wrong. I led you into a potential death trap. I wouldn't be surprised if you don't trust me after what happened."

"But we do trust you Phoenix," Heather spoke on behalf of all The Experiments. "We... haven't trusted you in the past. But, things have changed since then. We all make mistakes Phoenix, I know that better than anyone. We're a team Phoenix, we care about you."

In the back of the minivan, Mark scoffed loudly. Mistakes? Heather had done a lot more than make some mistakes. Mark clenched his fists at the memory of Heather spreading her lies, treating Phoenix like garbage. Every opportunity she got, Heather would verbally attack Phoenix, tormenting her by calling her a monster and Doctor Blake's pet psychopath.

Eventually, The Experiments had learned that Heather's behaviour was a result of Heather's jealously towards Phoenix. She saw Phoenix working for Doctor Blake as an act of betrayal, and hated that The Avengers had taken her in and cared for her. The thought made Mark sick.

It was only after Phoenix nearly died saving Heather that she came to her senses. After that, Phoenix and Heather were the closest out of all of them. Phoenix named Heather her second in command less than a month after they first formed the team. Mark fumed as he thought about it. Mark had been friends with Phoenix long before Heather, out of all of them, he was the first one to show her any kindness.

Mark watched Phoenix as she turned onto the motorway, as he looked in the rear-view mirror, he saw her sharp eyes scanning everything around her. He stared at her for a long time, fascinated with the way her hair moved as she turned her head ever so slightly.

London passed outside their windows but none of them could be bothered to take in the sights. It seemed insignificant considering the horrors they had just uncovered. It was probably the first time that a group of Americans had managed to miss Big Ben on their first visit to England.

Phoenix found a suitable underground parking area and sharply turned into it, surprising the rest of her group with the sudden turn. The minivan lurched into park as Phoenix pulled on the handbrake and turned off the car. Without another word, Phoenix stepped out of the car and slammed the door shut behind her.

The Experiments shot each other a frightened glance before hurriedly climbing out of the car. Phoenix grabbed her backpack and the suitcase with all of their gear from the back of the van, shooting the members of her group an expectant look as she did so.

"We're setting up base for the rest of the day," she informed them. "I've booked us a room in a hotel."

"How many rooms?" Heather asked as she glanced between the six of them.

"Just the one."

Bella coughed loudly and looked the three boys up and down. "Shouldn't we uh…separate?"

"No," Phoenix responded, tossing Bella her backpack as she delivered her answer. "We can't afford to split up at this point. Don't worry, I booked us a room with a double bed and two singles."

Josh stared at her, looking outraged. "I'm sorry, did you never learn how to count? Because you see there's six of us, and I'm pretty sure you just said that you booked us a room with three beds. I think your math might be a _little_ off."

Josh and Phoenix stared at each other for a few seconds. "Deal with it," Phoenix told him sharply, as she tossed his backpack at him. Caught off guard, Josh was nearly knocked off his feet as his backpack connected with his face. Before he could recover from the shock to swear at Phoenix, she spoke first. "We'll work something out. Maybe if you're lucky, there'll be a couch."

"Yeah," Josh muttered. "A couch."

* * *

The sleeping arrangements were sorted extremely quickly. Josh practically leaped into the room the second Phoenix opened the door and he immediately claimed one of the single beds as his own by throwing his bag, and himself, onto it.

Heather and Bella came to an agreement to share the double bed, leaving Mark and Sam to stare awkwardly at each other, and then the remaining single bed. It came down to a game of scissors, paper, rock. Sam emerged triumphant, leaving Mark to form a makeshift bed on the small lounge near the window.

With the sleeping arrangements sorted, everyone now stared at Phoenix, the same question on their minds. Phoenix saw how they were watching her and leaned against the wall with her arms folded, sighing deeply as she did so. "Well at least we've figured out what Project Achilles is," she commented weakly.

"A bomb," Mark stated.

"An _atomic_ bomb," Josh added.

"Atomic bombs are nuclear, and that wasn't a nuclear weapon," Phoenix corrected him. "I can tell that you're all freaked out by this, but you don't have to worry. Project Achilles isn't a threat. It's been handled, I've erased all the information in the Databank."

"You what?" Sam demanded. "You deleted everything in the Databank?"

"Sort of. I went down into the server room and set everything on fire," Phoenix answered.

The group stared at her with stunned expressions. Sam slowly brought his hands upwards and placed them on top of his head as he stared at Phoenix, open mouthed. He was unable to find words, and stood rooted to the spot, opening and closing his mouth quietly.

"Why would you do that?" Sam asked with a shriek in his voice when he finally managed to find his words. "We need all the information on Project Achilles so we can make sure it's not a threat. Right now, all we know is that it's a bomb. We don't know where it is, we don't know who has control of it. We don't know anything."

Phoenix pushed herself off the wall and stood in the centre of the room. "We don't need to know the specific details," she informed him as she folded her arms once again. "Project Achilles isn't a threat."

"HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?" Sam demanded. "HOW COULD YOU POSSIBILY KNOW…"

Sam's rant trailed off into a quite noise of realisation as he looked Phoenix up and down, saw her folding her arms defensively, keeping her face devoid of emotion as she tried to stare Sam down. As the other's watched Sam's reaction, they seemed to realise the same thing.

Josh stepped forward, his eyes bore into Phoenix with a budding rage. "Did you know about this?" he questioned, jabbing a finger in her direction as he spoke with an angry hiss in his voice, but Phoenix avoided his eyes and refused to answer. "Phoenix what the hell is this?"

"It's nothing you need to be concerned about," Phoenix told him, her voice detached and cold, completely void of emotion. "The Project died with him, it isn't a threat."

"ISN'T A THREAT!" Josh repeated, shouting as he cried in outrage. "When we watched that video, we saw an explosion more powerful than both Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined and you're telling us it isn't a threat!? You know exactly what this is Phoenix, stop lying!"

Mark stepped in front of Phoenix, placing himself in the centre of the argument. "Back off," he threatened in a dark voice. "If Phoenix says it isn't a threat, it isn't a threat."

"Why don't you just take your stupid puppy dog eyes and put them back in your head!" Josh snapped, stepping forward until his face was inches from Mark's, the significant difference in height placing Josh level with Mark's chin.

"How about you find your brain and put it back in your head?" Mark retorted. Behind Josh, Bella offered a visual summary of the whole argument, by putting her head in her hands.

"You're the one that needs to find a brain!" Josh snapped. "You're obsession is pathetic, you can't even function unless she's in the room with you! You need to grow up and quit pinning!"

"Both of you QUIT IT!" Phoenix shouted as she stepped around Mark to stand where she could be seen, the harsh tone of her voice making them all jump. Speaking in a lower tone, she addressed all of them. "Argue with my point of view all you want, but don't drag personal matters into this. And Mark, you need to step down, right now."

Mark turned his head to make eye contact, which he held for a brief second, before he stepped backwards, his head hung low. Phoenix waited for a moment before she spoke again, allowing everyone in the room to calm down so she could continue the discussion civilly.

"I swear to you, Project Achilles doesn't exist anymore," Phoenix announced, speaking in a low voice. "All you need to know is that Project Achilles isn't under Hydra's control. It died with the Doctor. He was the only one that knew. I can't say why, and I can't tell you anything more than that."

Josh hesitated, before he nodded solemnly in acceptance. "I'm sorry. I lost my cool."

"Don't apologise," she told him, looking down at her hands. After a minute, she inhaled a deep breath and stepped around the group, grabbing her laptop and from the suitcase. "I need to make a video call. Do you mind being quiet for a couple of minutes."

Phoenix moved to the far corner of the room and sat down next to the window with her back leaning against the wall. Propping the laptop on her knees, Phoenix turned it on and waited patiently for it to load, before she opened the secure channel and started the call.

He appeared on the screen almost instantly, clearly he had been waiting for her to call. The image was blurry, but it was easier enough to make out a clear expression of mild anger. After a long, drawn out silence, Hawkeye finally spoke. "London? Really?" Clint questioned, his lips tightening.

"It was important," Phoenix informed him defensively.

"You took off halfway across the world!" he rose his voice, clearly growing irritated. "You just got up and left in the middle of the night! Do you have any idea how angry I am?"

"I have a vague idea."

"No! Don't you use sarcasm on me!" he snapped, pointing his finger at her in a scolding manner. "I'm not even remotely joking around when I tell you, you are in more trouble than you can handle. Natasha was ready to swim across the North Atlantic Ocean when she found out. I don't know what makes me more disappointed, the fact that you ran off or the fact that you were so easy to track down. Took me less than five minutes. And another thing, Stark is not a bank."

"If I were trying to vanish, you'd never find me," Phoenix reminded him with a smirk. "And I'm sorry for running off. I felt like this was a mission that I couldn't ignore."

"Uh-huh. So what did you find on Project Achilles?" Clint asked, as his mood changed from concerned father to secret agent. Phoenix titled her head in confusion, unsure of how he knew about her. "Natasha told me," he clarified, noting Phoenix's confusion.

"We didn't find much," Phoenix informed him. "Project Achilles turned out to be a dead end, a Hydra project that never made it off the table. They had only just started the early stages of planning when it was discontinued. We weren't able to find out what it was though, but I can confirm that it isn't a threat."

The Experiments, who were huddled together on the large double bed, shifted nervously at the lie. They had been watching Phoenix in silence during the video call, but something about Phoenix blatantly lying to Clint set them all on edge. It was common knowledge that Phoenix only ever lied when she was trying to protect someone or something. Lying to Clint meant that whatever she knew about Project Achilles, most definitely was a threat.

"Well since that's out of the way, are you planning on coming home anytime soon?" Clint asked.

"The Experiments and I are still working a mission," Phoenix told him with a shrug. "It's not really a mission, it's just something we need to do. We're trying to track down someone who can help us decipher what Banner uncovered about our genetics. I'm not sure how long it will take us."

Clint leaned forward and rubbed his eyes, sighing dramatically as he did so. "You're a lot of trouble you know that Phoenix," he commented dryly. "It's been a crazy few days. What with Nathaniel's arrival and the brief moment of fear I had when I thought you'd been kidnapped or God knows what else. Not to mention Natasha going off her brain, which I blame you for entirely, by the way."

"I assume Natasha's not happy with me," Phoenix guessed.

Clint scoffed. "Not happy? She's furious," Clint laughed dryly as he continued talking. "The only reason she isn't in London right now yelling at you is because she's busy with the New Avengers. But she is coming to get you, make no mistake there. I'd say you have about another day before your impending doom."

"Can't you contact her and tell her that everything's fine?" Phoenix asked desperately.

"I sent her a text the minute you called me," Clint informed her. "I won't read out what she said exactly, but uh, trust me she's still coming to get you. You can't escape this one Phoenix."

Phoenix sighed, and shot a sideways glance at her team, watching them quietly as they whispered amongst themselves. "I've gotta go, I'll talk to you later Clint," Phoenix said her goodbye as she placed a hand on top of her laptop, ready to close the lid and end the call.

"We'll talk soon Phoenix," Clint said goodbye as Phoenix slammed her laptop shut.

* * *

Mark shifted uncomfortably, moving once again from lying on his side to lying on his back. There wasn't enough room on the couch for someone who was 6 feet tall. His feet dangled over the edge and his head rested awkwardly on the armrest. No matter how much he shifted around, nothing was comfortable.

He had no idea what time it was. All he knew was that he'd been lying awake on the couch for a while. Everyone else was already asleep, and he was the only idiot left who hadn't fallen asleep, because the couch he was sprawled across was literally the most uncomfortable thing in the world.

Mark grunted in annoyance as he moved closer to the edge of the couch and turned on his side. For a brief second he opened his eyes as he felt light hit him. It took a minute for him to adjust as he stared at the light coming in from the windows. For a moment, he thought it was the sun.

He realised after another second of staring that it wasn't sunlight coming around the edge of the curtain. It was moonlight. A shape was sitting in the corner of the room next to the window, with the curtain open just slightly so they could stare out at the streets below.

Phoenix's hand gripped the edge of the curtain, the moonlight shinning onto one side of her face, making her seem paler than usual. Mark kept quiet as he watched her, sat in complete silence as she simply stared out the window. What could she possibly be staring at for so long?

"You're not very subtle," Phoenix spoke, her voice lowered to a whisper. "If I were an enemy, I'd have you in seconds."

Mark stared at Phoenix for a long time in silence, like a startled deer that had been caught in the headlights of a car. Phoenix turned her head to look at him, the ghost of a sad smile present on her lips. Now that Mark could see her eyes, he realised that she had been crying earlier.

"I can't sleep," Mark confessed, whispering so as not to be heard by the others in the room.

"I know, I could hear you moving around," Phoenix spoke, watching him carefully. "That's how I knew you were watching me, you'd stopped moving."

Mark pushed the covers off himself and quietly slid off the lounge. He walked over to Phoenix and sat next to her, taking care not to make too much noise. "You don't need to be on guard every second of the day," he commented. "You should get some sleep. Why are you awake anyway?"

"Robots don't need sleep," Phoenix deadpanned, clearly avoiding the question.

Mark fixed her with a look. "You wanna know something I've figured out about you?" Mark asked, titling his head as he looked Phoenix up and down. "The only time you exhibit humour is when you're being sarcastic or snarky. When someone says or does something that you consider stupid, you always respond with a witty one liner at their expense. I have never seen you be funny in any other circumstances."

"You think I don't know how to be funny?" Phoenix questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Have you ever told a joke before?" Mark asked jokingly. "Do you even know what a joke is?"

"You," Phoenix responded. "You're a joke."

"See that's exactly what I mean, you're snarky," Mark gestured to her to prove his point but Phoenix merely scoffed in response and rolled her eyes. She said nothing and continued to look out the window, the brief light-hearted mood of their conversation faded as Phoenix's expression grew dark. "What's wrong?" Mark asked softly.

Phoenix sighed as she titled her head backwards and seemingly ignored his question. However, after a minute of silence, she spoke. "Do you remember about a year ago when we encountered each other in the training room and I taught you boxing?" Phoenix asked quietly, doing everything in her power not to look at him.

Mark thought back to that day. It was more than a year ago now, when Mark had walked into that room, he was terrified of Phoenix. Comparing how he felt about her then, to what he felt for her now, was enough to nearly make Mark burst out laughing. "Yeah I remember," he answered, smiling at the memory.

"You recognised that my fingers had been broken and never set properly," Phoenix murmured, holding her hands out in front of her, she stared down at them and slowly moved her fingers. "It's barely noticeable. My fingers curve only slightly, only someone who'd experienced the same thing could've possibly noticed."

Mark shrugged. "Like I've said before, my parents aren't the best people," Mark commented dryly as he turned his head to look out at the window. "Basically, I know what getting beat up feels like."

"He crushed my fingers," the words spilled out of Phoenix's mouth in a tremble. Mark's head snapped up, and he made eye contact with Phoenix who was looking at him with a distant expression on her face. "He would hold them on the table and use a large block of steel to crush them."

Mark stared at her in shock, surprised that she was telling him this. Phoenix never shared her past experiences, she always made every effort possibly to bury it. Mark watched her as Phoenix clenched her fists and looked away once again.

"I was trained to use weapons from an early age. Guns, knives, nearly everything," Phoenix told him. "If I didn't hold the weapon correctly, or if I made a mistake when using it, he would enact the punishment. Then, with crushed and broken fingers, he would make me use the weapon correctly."

Phoenix choked back a sob on the last word of her sentence. She scrunched up her face as tears began falling, and buried her head in her hands. "I had to pull the trigger on a shotgun with broken fingers," she cried, her voice muffled by her hands. "Weeks in the room while my fingers healed. Never set properly. I have to remember to hold the gun right or else…or else."

Just as Mark reached out to comfort her, Phoenix's head snapped up as she seemed to realise herself. She leapt to her feet and took several steps backwards, away from him. "You should go back to bed," she muttered. Mark could almost see her walls coming back up again as she turned away from him and darted into the bathroom.


	7. The University

**A/N: Chapter 7 is here, and you can expect to see some familiar faces in this chapter. I've not got much else to say for this chapter except don't forget to read, review and enjoy.**

* * *

Bella awoke just as Phoenix threw open the curtains, letting sunlight stream into the room. Bella sat up and rubbed her eyes, blinking amidst her blurred vision. Her eyes adjusted to the light, allowing her to see clearly as Phoenix silently packed her things away into her bag.

Next to Bella, Heather began to stir and groaned as she sat up, attracting Phoenix's attention. Phoenix turned her head and Bella nearly gasped when she saw her. Her skin was sickly and pale, and the dark crescents under her eyes were the only sign of colour in her features. Quite clearly, she hadn't slept at all.

"Get to work on packing our things," Phoenix ordered The Experiments as they begun to stir and sat up in bed to look at Phoenix. As she spoke she gestured to their bags and the open suitcase containing all of their gear and weapons. "I need to organise our ride. Once I get back, we're checking out of here and going after our next lead."

With those final words, Phoenix took one of the two key cards to their room and walked out the door with her bag slung over one shoulder. Concern overtaking her, Bella quickly stepped out of bed and walked to the door, opening it, she peered around the corner. Phoenix was nowhere to be seen, having already disappeared down the hallway.

Frowning Bella stepped back inside and closed the door behind her. "Something's wrong," she expressed her emotions to the group. "I've not seen Phoenix this bad since last year, back when we drove her over the edge."

Bella turned her eyes to Heather who looked away, stricken by guilt as she looked down at her hands. "You can't compare that to this," Heather muttered. "It's a completely different set of circumstances."

"You know how Phoenix is," Josh shrugged as he walked past Bella, heading for the bathroom. "Yesterday brought up traumatic memories for her, she needs a while to cool off on her own. When Phoenix is distressed, she removes herself completely in order to calm down. Once she gets back she'll be better, I guarantee it."

"No one should have to deal with that alone," Bella turned to look at him as she folded her arms. "Phoenix is self-destructive, who knows what she could be doing to herself."

"Maybe Bella's right," Sam agreed as he stood up off the bed and turned his head to look at the window. "She shouldn't be going off by herself, not when she's in the wrong frame of mind."

Heather went to say something, but stopped herself and shook her head, quietly going back to what she was doing. Nothing more was said between The Experiments as they packed. A combination of exhaustion and the uncomfortable issue kept the room in a state of silence. The silence ended when Phoenix returned, throwing open the door, she walked inside and grabbed her things.

"Let's go," she nodded her head at the door, holding it open for her team. They hurriedly grabbed everything and walked outside, waiting in the hallway as Phoenix slammed the door closed behind her. As they walked down the hallway, Phoenix gave out instructions.

"Depending on what we discover today we may end up staying longer in London," Phoenix informed them as they stepped inside the elevator. "But it's too risky to stay more than one night in the same hotel. I'm going to check out. While I do that, you take everything and once you walk out of the building turn left. Look for a black van with the number plates JDI473."

She handed a set of car keys to Heather as the elevator doors opened. Phoenix walked in the direction of the front desk while The Experiments were left to make their own way to the car. They found it after a minute, a sleek black van with a leather interior. As they threw their things into the back and climbed in, they were greeted with the familiar smell of a new car.

Phoenix joined them minutes later and quickly started the car, turning onto the streets of London. Josh leaned forward and gave the rear view mirror an unamused glance. "I assume that you didn't pay for this car?" He questioned. "What'd you do with the other car?"

"Torched it," Phoenix responded.

"Great, more illegal activities" Josh commented flatly. "What exactly are we doing?"

"We're going to the University College of London to find a scientist by the name of Riley West," Phoenix told them. "He worked on the Bio-Tech Force Enhancement Project with Dr Banner, and out of all the people who survived, he's the only one we can risk paying a visit to."

"Slow down Phoenix," Bella requested as she leaned forward, past Josh, and lightly placed a hand on Phoenix's shoulder. "You need to tell us everything. What's this Enhancement Project you're talking about, and who's Riley West. I think we deserve a detailed explanation."

Phoenix nodded and took a deep breath before she began her explanation. "A few years ago the United States government attempted to recreate the Super Soldier Serum. Bruce Banner, and a number of other scientists, worked underneath the army on the project. After five years the project began to lose funding, so Banner decided to test their makeshift serum on himself. I'll give you one guess as to what happened next."

"He became the Hulk," Sam answered with a groan from the backseat.

"And this Riley West guy is one of the scientists who worked with Banner on the project?" Mark guessed, speaking over Sam.

"Yes. SHIELD managed to compose a list of all the people who were involved with the Bio-Tech Project, and Hydra ended up getting their hands on it," Phoenix told them with a sigh. "Riley West was considered a low value member of that Project, his involvement was small. The only other person I know of that could help us is Elizabeth Ross, but meeting with her would be too risky."

"How is it risky?" Heather questioned.

"Elizabeth Ross was closer to Banner than anyone else, and she was a key member of the project. But her father is General Thaddeus Ross," Phoenix shook her head as she spoke. "He was the one in charge of the Bio-Tech Project, and when it went wrong he hunted Banner to the end of the Earth in an attempt capture the Hulk and use him as a weapon. We can't risk Ross discovering anything about us, God knows what he'll try and do to us."

"That's why you torched the car," Josh snapped his fingers as he came to a realisation. "You torched it so there would be no evidence left behind. You didn't want our DNA samples ending up in the wrong hands."

Phoenix nodded solemnly. "Banner noted that our DNA has severe abnormalities, and to me that sounds like something that forensic scientists would easily be able to find. Hydra knows about me already, but if they find out that there's more than one of us, they'll do everything in their power to hunt us down. I'm not prepared to let that happen."

Phoenix spotted an underground carpark and spun the wheel, knocking The Experiments to one side as she swung into the carpark and found a parking space. Phoenix seemed to know where she was going as she left the car and began walking up the ramp that led out onto the streets.

They walked for a while, Phoenix counting off the streets as they passed them. She found the correct one, and turned right as they came to a pedestrian crossing. Ahead of them, was a modest building with the words _Maple House_ written on the side, directly above the entrance.

"Doesn't look like much of a University," Mark commented.

"This is where the offices are," Phoenix informed him as she walked up to the front door. "UCL has different buildings scattered around this area for different purposes, the main buildings are further ahead. Riley West is one of the science professors at the university, his office should be in here."

As they entered the building, Phoenix saw an attendant at the front desk and signalled for The Experiments to wait where they were. Phoenix's face broke into a smile as the approached the desk and casually leaned over it to communicate with the attendant.

"Morning," she greeted him with a smile and a British accent. "Professor West wanted to see me in his office, but I'm not too sure where it is. Could you possibly point me in the right direction?"

The attendant relayed the information to Phoenix, and as she nodded along to what he was saying, she held her hand behind her back and signalled to The Experiments, gesturing for them to continue walking past her and wait behind the corner.

Once Phoenix was done with the attendant, she calmly walked around the corner and re-joined The Experiments. "I figured posing as a student at the University would be less likely to stand out," Phoenix informed them in a whisper. "If a random American girl walked up to the desk and demanded to see Riley West, it might be seen as suspicious. Whatever we do, we can't draw attention to ourselves."

"Got it," Heather nodded enthusiastically and gave Phoenix a thumbs up.

"I just have one question," Sam rose his hand. "What are we going to do when we find this guy? We can't exactly tell him what we are."

"Let me handle it," Phoenix responded, placing a hand into the pocket of her jacket. "He might need some persuasion. Now let's go."

Phoenix nodded to the stairs and her team followed after her as they made their way up the stairs until Phoenix turned into a hallway and led them to a wooden door with a glass window. The nameplate on the door read _Professor Riley West_.

A hand still in her pocket, Phoenix used her free hand to knock loudly on the door. A stout man in his 40s, wearing a lab coat over his large frame, opened the door and looked them up and down. He had a beard that looked like it hadn't been maintained for a while, and a large nose that jutted out from his face.

"You and I have a lot to talk about Professor West," Phoenix commented as she shoved the door open and pushed herself past him. The Experiments followed her inside, and Sam locked the door behind them as he closed it. West stared at them, stunned for a moment, probably believing they were just impatient students.

"I'm a friend of Doctor Banner," Phoenix introduced herself.

At the words Doctor Banner, West took a step backwards and held up a shaking hand as if he was surrendering. "I don't know what you're talking about," West lied, his voice rising by several pitches. "I don't know anyone by that name, you've got the wrong guy."

"I know about the Bio-Tech Enhancement Project," Phoenix informed him. "I'm just here to talk. If you cooperate, it'll make your life a whole lot easier."

"Look," West sighed. "I can't tell you anything, I signed the Official Secrets Act."

"I'm not here to interrogate you," Phoenix shook her head. "My team and I have a small problem that we need your help with. We know you worked on Bio-Tech Enhancement, and we need a scientist who can decipher genetics research. Can you help us or not?"

Riley West stumbled over his words, looking for a response. Before he had a chance to speak, the door to the office was thrown open, and a familiar woman stepped into the room. Although she wore civilian clothing, she was easy to recognise from the short red hair, and stern look.

The Black Widow surveyed her surroundings, taking in everything in the room, before she locked eyes with Phoenix.

The Experiments immediately retreated to the wall, leaving Phoenix stood directly in Natasha's line of sight. Phoenix, with her arms folded, avoided Natasha's hard gaze by staring at the ground. "I want to speak to you outside," Natasha requested, her voice harsh. "Right now Phoenix."

Phoenix hesitated for a second, before she lifted her head and walked over to Natasha, making eye contact for a brief second before she stepped past her and walked outside. The Experiments breather a collective sigh of relief as Natasha left the room.

Riley West looked at them in confusion, unsure of what exactly was happening. "Can I go now?" The portly scientist questioned.

"Uh, no," Heather responded.

Outside the office, in the badly lit hallway, Natasha looked Phoenix up and down with a glare. Phoenix took a deep breath and prepared herself for whatever Natasha was about to throw at her. "What'd you find on Project Achilles," Natasha demanded, her voice surprisingly calm.

"Nothing," Phoenix answered hesitantly, slightly confused that Natasha wasn't yelling. "It turned out to be a dead end. A proposed Hydra project that never made it out of the first stages of planning. We found blueprints, but we still couldn't figure out what they were for."

Natasha fixed her with a stare and tilted her head slightly. "You're lying," Natasha picked it up almost immediately. "You're acting like you're in an interrogation, that's how I know you're lying."

Phoenix sighed. "The Project has been discontinued," Phoenix tried to express her words to Natasha with as much honesty as she could muster. "Project Achilles isn't a threat."

Natasha looked down and saw that Phoenix's right hand was clenched tightly around something. Natasha reached out and grabbed her right arm. Forcefully, she prized Phoenix's hand open, and snatched the object that she had been holding so tightly in her hand.

"What's this?" Natasha demanded, holding up the USB.

Phoenix moved her arm like she was about to grab it back off Natasha, but decided against it, and glared at Natasha instead. "Research," she answered Natasha's question, her voice dark. "It's nothing to do with Project Achilles, it's something else."

"What are you doing here?" Natasha questioned, her behaviour unnaturally casual and calm as she examined the USB with cautious eyes.

"We're trying to decipher what's on that USB," Phoenix responded, her voice growing increasingly more annoyed. She sighed deeply before making the decision to tell Natasha everything. "It's all the research and testing that Bruce did on our blood and tissue samples."

Natasha froze and snapped her head up to look at Phoenix. "I assume that's what you need the scientist in there for," Natasha asked as she nodded her head towards the office door. "And that's why you simply took off to London instead of letting me know where you were going."

Phoenix shrugged and looked down. "I knew you'd come after me," she mumbled. "That's why I didn't make an effort to cover my tracks. But if I told you outright, you'd never let me go. Besides, you specifically told me not to go chasing after Project Achilles."

"And yet you did it anyway," Natasha scoffed, a small smile breaking across her face as she threw the USB back to Phoenix, who held up a hand and caught it smoothly. "You aren't getting out of this so easily, I do plan on punishing you at a later date."

Phoenix looked sceptical, but nodded gratefully to Natasha. She was surprised that Natasha wasn't going to drag her home, but Natasha's promise of a punishment could only insinuate something unpleasant in the near future. For now however, she had the silent permission of Natasha to continue with her mission.

Phoenix turned back to the door beside her and threw it open, she walked into West's office once again, a clear look of determination on her face. "Let's pick up where we left off Riley," Phoenix fixed the scientist with an expectant look as she walked towards him. "Can you help me or not?"

"I'm sorry genetics isn't my field of study," West raised his hands in an apologetic surrender, stuttering as he gave Phoenix an answer. "I worked on the Gamma Radiation elements of the Bio-Tech Enhancement Project. I'm a nuclear physicist with an expertise in studying radiation, I have nothing to do with genetics."

Phoenix turned away and looked at her team, but before she could say anything to them, Riley West spoke up once more. "But I do know someone that can help you," West offered. "Dr Amanda Redfern. She's a leading expert in studying DNA and human biology, she could tell you what you need to know in less than a second. Right now she's working in Japan, studying the effects of the atomic bomb on the genetic makeup of humans."

Phoenix snapped her head around to look at The Experiments. Silently, she seemed to communicate with them before she turned her focus back to Riley West and spoke in a low voice. "Don't try and make contact with Redfern, and don't speak to anyone about this. As far as you're concerned, we were never here."

Riley West watched with a stunned expression as they finally left his office, the two redhead girls leading the way. West faintly heard the woman address the younger girl with a cold voice, and he shook his head as the office door closed on them.

Natasha led The Experiments out of the building and down the streets of London, refusing to give them any information as to where they were going. Eventually they came upon a small park nearby, and behind a cluster of trees, Phoenix recognised the faint outline of a cloaked Quinjet.

As they took a step onto the ramp, they were able to see past the cloaking disguise, and saw the quinjet materialise before their eyes. At the top of the ramp, a humanoid figure looked down at them. It had odd coloured skin, and wore a strange outfit with a cape. The gleam of a yellow gem could be seen imbedded into it's forehead.

The second Phoenix spotted Vision at the top of the ramp, she froze where she stood. Her hand frantically seized the gun in her jacket pocket for security. Giving Vision a wary glance, Phoenix walked around the other side of Natasha and came up close beside her.

"You didn't tell me the other Avengers were here," she hissed in Natasha's ear, still with her eyes fixed on Vision. "Especially Vision. You know I don't trust it." Phoenix tightened her grip on the gun, and nearly drew it from her pocket. Natasha saw what she was doing and placed a hand over hers, shaking her head at Phoenix.

"I would prefer it if you didn't shoot me Miss Romanoff," Vision addressed her. He watched Phoenix curiously as she walked past him up the ramp, making sure that there was as much distance between them as possible.

"I would prefer it if you didn't speak to me," Phoenix snapped back, refusing to look at him.

Inside the quinjet, two men were waiting side by side. Although Vision had been wearing his uniform, Falcon and War Machine were wearing neither of their suits, and instead wore civilian clothing like Natasha. They seemed pleased to see Phoenix, and Phoenix saw them as a much more welcome sight than Vision.

In the corner of the Quinjet, remaining in her seat, Wanda Maximoff watched Phoenix closely. She too was wearing civilian clothing rather than her specially designed uniform. Phoenix glanced over at her, and easily recognised her from their brief encounter on the Hellicarrier. Phoenix gave her an uncertain glance before she moved to address Sam Wilson and James Rhodes.

"Good to see you Phoenix," Falcon greeted her with a grin as she walked over to him. "I see you've been getting yourself into trouble yet again."

"Are you really surprised at this point?" Phoenix joked, turning to Rhodes, she shook his hand respectfully as she introduced herself. "War Machine right? We haven't met before, I'm Phoenix Romanoff, this is my team, The Experiments."

"Romanoff?" Rhodes questioned, eyes flicking between Natasha and Phoenix. "I can see the family resemblance. I didn't know you had a daughter."

"Whoa, she's not my mother," Phoenix corrected him hurriedly. "No. Natasha's my legal guardian. Well one of them, Clint is my other legal guardian. It...it's complicated."

Natasha's face remained stony at Phoenix's comment. She moved past the group and headed to the cockpit where another familiar figure stood. Captain America stepped past Natasha, who had moved to use the monitor in the cockpit, and walked over to Phoenix. There was a hint of a proud grin on his face as he addressed Phoenix.

"Are you coming back to The New Avengers Facility with us?" Steve asked Phoenix. "Not that I don't mind travelling halfway across the world to drag you home."

Natasha glanced at him over her shoulder before she continued with what she was doing. Phoenix looked from The Experiments to Natasha, struggling to make a decision. "No," Phoenix eventually decided. "There's still something we have to do."

"You're going after Amanda Redfern then?" Natasha questioned, still facing the monitor as she spoke. "You're going to go all the way to Japan based on the information that West gave you? You know it's going to be risky Phoenix."

"We came all the way to London based on much less reliable information," Phoenix shrugged.

"I don't like it Phoenix," Natasha expressed her opinion as she stepped away from the monitor and moved to stand beside Steve. "SHIELD had all the surviving members of the Bio-Tech Force Enhancement Project on a watchlist, and since you were able to find West, I'm willing to bet that Hydra had access to that list as well. Hydra has been primarily demolished, but that doesn't mean they're not a threat."

Steve stepped forward, interjecting himself into the debate. "What kind of mission are you planning Phoenix?" He asked.

"We just spoke with Professor Riley West who gave us the name of a woman who might be able to help us find out what the serum did to us," Phoenix informed him. "In Banner's research, he discovered that there were severe abnormalities in our DNA. We want to figure out what's wrong with our genes."

Steve turned to make eye contact with Natasha. "It's important Natasha," he told her softly. "I think you should let her go."

Natasha flicked her eyes up at him, a sour expression on her face. "It might be important, but I still think it's too risky," Natasha held her ground, and addressed Phoenix. "Something's off Phoenix, maybe you should think about another option. Amanda Redfern isn't the only Biochemist in the world."

"She's studying the effects of the atomic bomb on human biology," Phoenix argued. "I don't know how the serum changed us but if there are mutations in our DNA then Dr Redfern is our best option. I know how Hydra operates and I know the risks. Please Natasha, I can handle this."

"Maybe someone could go with you," Steve suggested. "Someone to pull you out if things get too serious."

"I'll go," Natasha immediately offered.

"No," Steve shot her down, shaking his head sternly. "I need you here Natasha, and you're too emotionally compromised."

"I will do it," a voice offered from behind them. Phoenix stepped aside and turned her head to see that Wanda Maximoff had stood up and volunteered herself.


	8. The Re-encounter

**A/N: Look at that, Chapter 8 on time once again, go me. So last chapter, you all seemed to love Wanda getting involved, which is really awesome I'm glad you all liked that. Exciting things await in this chapter, this is when it all starts to happen. Hold onto your hats people, and don't forget to read, review and enjoy.**

* * *

Steve looked at Wanda in consideration, his eyes examining her carefully. Phoenix watched him as he seemed to agree with Wanda's idea and his expression changed to acceptance. Natasha had seen it as well and stepped forward. Lightly, she grabbed Steve's elbow and pulled him to the side

"No," Natasha protested with low voice as she looked up at Steve in disbelief. "Don't even consider it."

"It's a good opportunity for Maximoff to be around people like her. People with powers," Steve argued. "I don't know much about unique abilities like hers, but Phoenix might be able to help her. I think Maximoff should go with them."

"Phoenix and Wanda are a bad combination," Natasha warned. "They're both incredibly powerful and temperamental."

"It's good training for Maximoff," Steve offered, trying to sway Natasha. "She'll help protect them, and if Phoenix tries to put herself at risk, Maximoff will be able to stop her. Phoenix is going to take off either way, at least this way you know that she'll be safe."

Natasha realised that he had a point, Phoenix would be going to Japan no matter what happens. Rather than give Steve the satisfaction, she decided not to admit that he was right. "Fine, we'll do it your way," she responded bitterly.

Natasha and Steve back to Phoenix, who was waiting expectantly for what they had to say. Steve nodded to Wanda and pointed to Phoenix. "Maximoff, you're with The Experiments," he gave the order.

"I don't need a babysitter," Phoenix protested in a flat voice, sounding outraged. Turning to Wanda, she lowered her voice. "No offence."

"It's done Phoenix, she's going with you," Natasha told her, making it clear that Phoenix had no room to argue with her. Very gently, Natasha led Phoenix aside, and placed a hand on her shoulder. Addressing Phoenix in a sincere manner, Natasha spoke softly. "You have to stay in contact with me, do you understand? I know this is important to you, but I also know that you're reckless and impulsive. Please, try not to do anything too risky. And for the love of God, stay out of trouble."

* * *

Half an hour later, Wanda Maximoff sat in the passenger seat of their stolen van as Phoenix, wearing a blank expression, drove out of the car park. The Experiments stared at Wanda from the backseat of the car, looking her up and down as if she was an intruder. Wanda shifted uncomfortably against the stares and tried to focus her attention on the road ahead.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she watched as Phoenix flicked her eyes up to the rear-view mirror and made eye contact with someone. Wanda looked over her right shoulder only slightly so she could see what was happening in the backseat. She saw the blonde girl look at Phoenix.

Wanda felt it before she saw it, the energy in the air. It was telepathic. The teenagers were psychically connected, and they were communicating with each other. They weren't sharing words, their connection wasn't strong enough for that. They were sharing emotions.

"You have a telepathic connection," Wanda stated, catching Phoenix's attention.

"We call it a Mental Link," Phoenix corrected her. "But essentially it's just a mild telepathic connection. We're not entirely sure how it works."

Wanda craned her head around to look at The Experiments in the back of the car. "I didn't know that there were more of you," Wanda addressed them before she turned back around. "I thought you were the only other person with abilities that Hydra created. When discussing powered people, Hydra would always mention a Phoenix who had slipped through their fingers."

"The Doctor kept the other five a secret," Phoenix explained. "He hand raised me himself, while the others were left to be raised in a normal environment. I don't know why, but Hydra never learned about the rest of them, which is a good thing."

"What's it like to have your abilities for most of your life?" Wanda asked. "I can't imagine having my gifts at a young age."

"I'm sorry," Heather interrupted her, holding up her hands in a timeout signal. "How is it that you know so much about us?"

"I asked about you," Wanda answered, slightly embarrassed, but more curious than anything. "I didn't know that there were other people like me, so after I met you on the Helicarrier I asked the other Avengers. Hawkeye spoke of Phoenix fondly, but the Black Widow was less reluctant to speak about you."

"When we first received our abilities they were incredibly weak," Phoenix answered Wanda's earlier question, distracting her from a conversation about Natasha and Clint. "As we've gotten older, our abilities have developed to be more powerful. Just imagine a five year old with that much power, it would be a disaster."

Wanda nodded in understanding. "You know a lot about people with powers?" She sounded like she was asking a question, even though she spoke like it was a statement.

"I have experience," Phoenix responded, turning to Wanda with the slightest hint of a smirk on her lips. "I can show you a thing or two if you want, it's probably a good idea that you see what The Experiments can do, that way we can work together more effectively."

Heather cleared her throat, angrily shooting Wanda a look before she addressed Phoenix. "Aren't we on a mission Phoenix," she reminded her. "When are we going to Japan?"

Phoenix's smile faded as she refocused her attention back to the mission at hand. "We leave for Japan tomorrow so that way we have time to run through what we need to with Maximoff," Phoenix answered. "She needs to be briefed on everything before we move onto Japan."

At the very back of the car, a bitter Mark sighed dramatically from where he sat next to Sam. "Now Phoenix is best buds with the creepy Eastern European chick," he commented flatly, leaning his head back against the seat as he looked to the top of the car. "Great."

"I don't trust her either, but I trust Phoenix. If she thinks that it's ok to reveal our mission to this lady, then we just have to go along with it," Sam shrugged as he spoke quietly so the others wouldn't hear them. "You can't pick a fight with everyone you know."

"Fucking watch me," Mark muttered back.

Abruptly, the car swerved as Phoenix spun around a corner at the last second, sending them all flying to the right. Before The Experiments had time to react, Phoenix spun the car the other way, sending them all flying to the left as she turned another corner, hard.

"What is it?" Bella asked anxiously as she sat upright and glanced behind them nervously.

"Someone's on our tail," Phoenix answered through gritted teeth. "I've only just noticed, I don't know how long they've been following us. Whoever they are, they're experts. They should realise by now that I've seen them, hopefully they'll drop back."

"What if they don't?" Josh questioned.

"Then we need to be ready for a fight," Phoenix answered.

It was a painfully long period of waiting as they continued driving through London, with Phoenix constantly scanning the mirrors with intense caution. Eventually, tensions in the car lessened as Phoenix relaxed her death grip on the wheel and nodded.

"They're gone for now," she informed them. "That doesn't mean they won't come back. We need to stay on alert."

"Now we have someone following us," Josh groaned, covering his face with his hands as he slid halfway down his seat. "Who the hell would be following us? Phoenix, did you recognise them?"

"No," Phoenix replied, her voice rough. "Black car, tinted windows, basic number plate. There's was nothing distinguishable about the car. It could've been anyone." Phoenix angrily slammed a hand against the dashboard as her gaze flicked backwards and forwards between the mirrors.

"What do we do?" Heather asked, her voice quiet.

"There's a shopping centre a few blocks ahead," Phoenix pointed to a sign. "I'll park the car underground and we'll lay low for a while. After a few hours, we'll move onto our hotel. While we're here we may as well get some supplies and sort out the flight to Japan."

Once Phoenix had aggressively driven into a parking space and aggravated a female driver who had been about to park in the same spot, The Experiments and Wanda stepped out of the car. They moved as a group in the direction of the entrance, with Phoenix in the lead.

"Heather, Mark, Sam and Bella. Hold out your hands," Phoenix addressed the four members of the group as they came to a stop just inside the entrance. They opened their hands and Phoenix placed an earpiece into each of their palms. "Patrol the area and be on the lookout for anything suspicious. Try and stay within sight of each other at all times and remember not to draw attention to yourselves."

"What am I doing?" Josh asked, confused as to why he hadn't been given the same orders.

"You and Maximoff will be coming with me. I need your ability," Phoenix answered, as she handed him an earpiece. While putting on her own earpiece, Phoenix continued talking. "If anyone sees anything, we regroup immediately. Then, depending on the situation, we either fight, or run for it."

They group spilt as they went their own ways, Phoenix leading Josh and Wanda downstairs, as the other four took the upstairs level where they had a clearer view of the surroundings. Phoenix entered a bookstore first, which Josh found odd, until he saw her pick up a Japanese translation book.

Wanda moved the other side of the store at Phoenix's command, leaving Josh to wait with Phoenix while she tried to find an appropriate translation book. As he absently glanced around the store, Josh's eyes fell on three boys of about 18 who all fell into the tall, dark and handsome category.

They were keeping their distance, but stayed close enough to be able to watch Phoenix. Josh was about to warn Phoenix that someone was watching them, until he realised that the three guys had a much different interest in Phoenix.

"Ooh hello," Josh caught Phoenix's attention as he turned away from the boys, speaking to Phoenix in a singsong voice as he smirked devilishly. "Don't look now Phoenix but there's some cute boys back there staring at you. They're pretty hot actually, not a bad catch at all."

Phoenix turned her head, catching a brief glimpse of the three boys before she turned back to riffling through the shelves. "Don't they have something better to be doing?" She scoffed, questioning no one in particular.

"Come on Phoenix, you're hot shit," Josh leaned against the bookshelf as he looked at the boys once again out of the corner of his eye, biting his lip as he looked them up and down. "It's the curse of being sexy, everyone stares at you like a piece of meat."

"Actually I've been thinking more about that," Phoenix mused as she absently opened and book and flicked through the pages before closing it and placing it back on the bookshelf. "How all six of us are unnaturally attractive."

"Unnaturally attractive?" Josh repeated, eyeing Phoenix with a titled head. "We aren't...oh wait," he trailed off as he came to a realisation. "Holy shit, I never actually noticed that. None of us are ugly in the slightest. How the hell?"

"I think it was the serum," Phoenix suggested, turning to look at Josh directly. "Think about it, the serum that created us was based off the original Super Solder Serum. You've seen the before and after photographs of Captain America, there was a significant change in appearance. I don't know if we were designed this way on purpose, but either way, it makes it easier to catch people off guard."

"Huh," Josh made a noise of surprise as he thought over Phoenix's words. "You know, it also makes it easy for you to have anyone you want. Everyone wants to date you, even those guys back there."

"Don't worry, I don't want them," Phoenix scoffed. "You can go ahead and flirt with them if you want, I know they're your type."

Josh felt his entire body go rigid as his mind froze, Phoenix's words echoing like the chime of a clock in his head. He looked at her, outraged to see that she was calmly sorting through the books as if nothing drastic had been said.

"How - how did you?" Josh stuttered as he questioned her, his hands trembling. "I was? How'd you know that I'm – I'm?"

"That you're attracted to boys," Phoenix finished his sentence calmly. She looked up at him, watching as he stared at her in shock, as if he couldn't believe that the words had left her mouth. "Natasha trained me to be able to read people and pick out every detail about who they are just from their behaviour. Don't worry, it's not obvious, no one else has any idea."

"You won't tell anyone will you?" Josh questioned fearfully, his voice lowered to a whisper.

"Of course not. I know what it's like to have a secret like that, I'm not going to say anything," Phoenix promised. Finally, she selected a book and held it up for Josh to see, effectively steering their topic of conversation in another direction. "Show time."

Phoenix placed the book back on the shelf and calmly, she and Josh walked towards the exit. Wanda saw them moving, and quickly followed as they turned around a corner. The girls stood in front of Josh, making sure no one was watching, before Josh's image flickered, and he vanished from sight.

Phoenix and Wanda waited for close to a minute, before they heard the alarms at the front of the bookstore start ringing. The security guard shot the security devices a look, confused as to why they were going off when no one walked past them. Phoenix heard the guard curse the system, as Josh reappeared behind Phoenix and handed over the book.

"Nice job," Phoenix complimented him as she ran her hands over the book. "You're improving."

Phoenix had been training Josh for over a year now to improve his Invisibility. He'd started off only being able to turn himself invisible, but under Phoenix's training, he had graduated into turning small objects invisible. However he could only do it when he came into direct contact with an object.

"That was impressive, but I thought that Stark was giving you money," Wanda spoke. "Why do you need to steal?"

"Tony's account is easily traceable, and we only need it for flights and hotel rooms anyway," Phoenix clarified. "Besides, we never steal from actual people. We only ever steal from large corporations and retail stores, usually because if items get stolen, they can just bring in more stock."

"Phoenix is very anti-capitalism," Josh explained to Wanda who was staring at Phoenix through narrowed eyes. "Any opportunity to stick it to the man, she takes it."

After securing more stolen items, Phoenix sent a message out to the other Experiments, asking them to meet in the food court in the centre of the shopping centre. They were already waiting when Phoenix arrived with Josh and Wanda trailing behind her.

"Nothing to report Phoenix," Heather told her as she sat down at the table they were waiting at.

"Although don't hate us if we did miss something," Mark added. "It's chaos in this place."

Phoenix turned her head to the left and right, taking in her surroundings carefully. It was nearing the end of the lunch rush hour, so it was extremely crowded in the food court. People were moving around rapidly, making it hard to keep track of anything amongst the large groups of people.

"I came up with a list of who might've been following us," Bella informed the group, but she directed most of her attention to Phoenix. However Phoenix wasn't paying much attention to her, she was too focused on scanning as much of the environment as possible.

The food court was a large circular shape, with fast food shops lining the edges, and a maze of tables and chairs in the centre. It was an open court, which meant that on the second floor above them, they could see the shoppers moving around. Railings were the only thing stopping the second floor from dropping down into the food court below. A large glass ceiling directly above them provided the main source of lighting.

"We know that Hydra and SHIELD survived the Hydra uprising, but after the battle they broke off into two small factions," Bella informed them of her idea, using hand motions as she spoke. "It's possible that the leftovers of SHIELD or Hydra might've been following us. Aside from the two obvious ones, I was also considering an elusive government branch, or maybe a non-government group. What do you think Phoenix?"

Bella turned to her, but Phoenix's eyes were trained on a spot above her, watching something near the railings carefully. "Phoenix?" Bella repeated, seeing whether or not she could catch her attention.

Phoenix's eyes widened as she saw something ahead of her, and immediately leapt to her feet. "DOWN!" she cried in warning as she threw herself across the small table and collided into Bella, throwing her to the ground just as a bullet flew over the top of her head, flying through the space where Bella's head had been just seconds earlier.

The rest of The Experiments ducked and threw themselves under the table as chaos erupted around them. Hearing the crack of a gunshot, people started screaming and frantically ran for the exits in a panic. A stampede of people moved past them, allowing for a brief few seconds of cover.

Phoenix drew her gun and signalled for her team to stay down as she quickly glanced over the top of the table to see where the shooter was. She ducked back down again and loaded her gun. "Stay down, I'll see if I can take out the shooter."

No sooner than the words left Phoenix's mouth, more gunfire erupted, but this time it came from the entrance to the food court on their left. The crowd split in half, giving The Experiments a clear view of what was happening.

A man in his late thirties stood there with an anxious, and psychopathic grin. He wore black combat pants and a vest, which left his heavily tattooed arms visible. His hair was trimmed to a crew cut, and his small dark eyes scanned the surroundings with a deadly glint. He was tall, with large muscles, and a bulky figure. He had two guns hanging off his belt, a shotgun slung over his shoulder and an assault rifle in his right hand.

"No," Phoenix whispered as she locked eyes with him.

Flanking him on the right was a tall man with dark skin and long dreadlocked hair that was pulled back from his face. On the tattooed man's left side, was a petite young woman who stared at them through her thin eyes with an emotionless and dead eyed look.

As The Experiments looked up, they saw a blonde woman with pale skin and an eager grin, leap over the railings and land gracefully on one of the tables, raising her sniper rifle to aim at The Experiments crouched underneath the table.

The man who had fired the assault rifle at the ceiling, walked towards them calmly. As he got closer, his tattoos could be seen in greater detail. Covering the entirety of his right arm, was the tattoo of a large bird with its wings spread. Vibrant hues of yellow, red and orange gave the bird its colour, and intricate details of what looked like fire blossomed around the bird.

It was a tattoo of a Phoenix.

The Experiments turned their heads to Phoenix, who was staring blankly as the four people advanced. She turned to her team members. "Whatever you do, don't use your abilities in front of them," she gave the order, but it sounded more like she was pleading with them, almost begging. "Maximoff, I need you as my backup."

After those words, Phoenix unexpectedly stood up and stepped onto the table as she held her gun by her side. The man with the assault rifle grinned when he saw her, and looked her up and down as if he almost couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Phoenix," he spoke her name with a sickening rush of affection. He had a strong American accent, but spoke her name like she was some kind of exotic beauty.

Phoenix stiffened. "Carver," she addressed him, startling The Experiments as Phoenix made it clear that she knew the man.

Carver's expression brightened as Phoenix spoke his name. "It's been a while Phoenix," he commented as he titled his head to get a better view of The Experiments, crouched beneath the table. "I see you've got friends with you."

"Don't touch them," Phoenix warned, taking a step off the table and landing on the ground in front of The Experiments, blocking Carver's view. "How did you find me?"

Carver tsked, shaking his head as he looked at Phoenix with a smirk. "You've gotten slack," he chided her. "Did you forget that the LA base has access to the footage from The Databank? We knew the second you reactivated the building. Find anything interesting in the Achilles file?"

Phoenix clenched her fists and tightened her grip on the gun. Satisfied with her reaction, Carver's grin spread wider across his face. "What do you want Carver?" Phoenix demanded.

Carver's grin vanished as he became serious, hands twitching near the trigger of his rifle. "I want what I've always wanted," he responded coldly. "I want what the Doctor promised to me all those years ago. I want what's rightfully mine. I want you Phoenix."

Wanda jumped up from behind a table on the other side of the food court, having used Phoenix's distraction as time to sneak around to a better vantage position. Wanda moved her hands around in a large arc, red mist escaping from the tips of her fingers. The rifle that Carver held in his hand was ripped from his grasp, and Wanda used her ability to hit him across the face with it, before she flung him and his three friends, across the room.

Carver pulled himself to his feet and shot Wanda a murderous glare, wiping blood from his mouth as he stood upright. "So it's true," he spat at Phoenix. "You're working for the Avengers."

"Better than that," Phoenix shot back, a fireball forming in her palm as she made eye contact with Carver, giving him a smirk to rival his own from earlier. "Didn't you hear? I'm the newly adopted daughter of Black Widow and Hawkeye."

With that, Phoenix threw back her arm and flung the fireball. It hit Carver square in the chest, leaving him to try and put out the fire, while Phoenix ran to The Experiments. "TIME TO GO!" She shouted, ushering them to their feet as she frantically looked over at Carver to see if he had recovered.

The Experiments took off and ran for it, moving as fast as possible away from Carver and his gun-wielding friends. Wanda started to follow, but as she watched The Experiments running ahead of her, she saw Mark take off in a blur, moving with super-speed.

A stabbing pain erupted in Wanda's heart and she felt herself crumble to her knees as a horrifying memory overtook her. Lying there on the table, covered in blood, his skin pale and his eyes empty. The image was burned into her vision and she felt herself beginning to sob as it refused to leave her.

Pietro.

Strong arms grabbed Wanda and pulled her to her feet. "We've got to get out of here!" Wanda heard Phoenix shouting as the younger girl pulled Wanda along, forcing her to move as they ran in the opposite directions of the gunshots.

They made it outside to the carpark just as Heather started the car and slid into the backseat. Phoenix threw herself into the driver's seat and wasted no time in slamming her foot down on the accelerator. Wanda just made it into the car as Phoenix drove off, putting as much distance between them and Carver as possible.


	9. The History

**A/N: Even though I've been insanely preocupied lately, here is chapter 9 on time yet again. So last chapter, we got our first appearence from Carver. A couple of questions are answered in this chapter, but some questions are also raised. The mystery continues. As usual, don't forget to read, review and enjoy.**

* * *

It was close to five minutes of high speed driving as Phoenix weaved through traffic with her foot pressed down hard on the accelerator. Phoenix was turning as many corners as possible, taking them on the most random route she could calculate as they travelled through London. Phoenix expended every effort in making sure that Carver, their mysterious attacker, wasn't on their tail.

As Phoenix eased off the accelerator, The Experiments finally had a chance to react. "What the hell was that?" Heather demanded, directing her questions at Phoenix as she attempted to keep herself calm by breathing heavily. "Who was that and how did you know him?"

"We can save the questions for later, right now we need to get somewhere safe," Phoenix responded.

"No, you tell us right now," Heather argued, losing some of the calmness in her voice. "Answer the questions Phoenix."

"CRU," Phoenix answered, her voice soft. "They were members of CRU."

"Crew?" Sam questioned, his voice lilting with confusion.

"No, C.R.U. It stands for Combat Reconnaissance Unit, but it's pronounced like crew," Phoenix explained, a regretful sigh in her voice. "They're an expert tactical force, made up of mercenaries, ex-militia and criminals. They work for Hydra."

"Hydra?" Mark repeated. "Now we have to worry about Hydra coming after us?"

"Hydra has much bigger problems to deal with," Phoenix reassured him. "Their organisation is in ruins, and most of the people left over are caught up in a fight with the remaining factions of SHIELD. I don't think CRU is here on orders from Hydra. Carver's mission with me is personal."

"Carver said that he wanted you," Bella addressed Phoenix, her voice quiet as she tried to stop herself from trembling.

"Carver wants powers, mine specifically," Phoenix clarified. "All members of CRU are driven by some kind of sick motive, and Carver's motive is that he wants ultimate power. He's a psychopath with a God Complex, and he believes that my abilities rightfully belong to him."

"You seem to know him pretty well, and you still haven't answered Heather's question," Josh commented dryly. "I could ask you the question again, how did you know them? But you're not going to give us a straight answer, you never do. First Project Achilles and now this."

Phoenix slammed her foot on the brake and turned the steering wheel, the car jarring to a stop in front of a driveway. Phoenix put the car into park and yanked on the handbrake. She sat wordlessly for a few seconds, looking down at her hands with a grim stare.

"Did you believe that The Doctor was the one who trained me?" Phoenix questioned, her voice quiet. The Experiments didn't answer, they were too confused. Phoenix's question was completely irrelevant to the conversation. "The Doctor raised me, conditioned me, prepared me. But he wasn't the one who taught me what I know."

The Experiments were confused, but it was Wanda who realised what Phoenix was saying. "CRU were your mentors," Wanda stated, breaking her silence. "They trained you to fight."

Phoenix nodded solemnly. "For 10 years they trained me," Phoenix told them, keeping her eyes trained on the dashboard in front of her. "There were seven members of CRU, each with their own role in the team, and so they taught me different things."

"The woman who was shooting at us from the railings, her name is Sara and she taught me everything about weapons. The man on the right of Carver was Raoul, Raoul taught strategy and intelligence. The woman on Carver's left, she taught me espionage and her name is Leda."

"There were three others as well, but I have no idea what's happened to them. Owen, who trained me in strength and stamina, and Journey who trained me in agility and flexibility. There was also Jasper, but she didn't play a role in training me. Her expertise lay with mechanics and technology, and the Doctor decided that I didn't need to learn that."

Phoenix swallowed, fighting back a tremble in her voice before she continued talking. "Finally Carver, he was the leader of CRU, and he taught me combat, both armed and hand-to-hand. He treated me like I was already a member of his team, and I admired him for that."

Phoenix wiped away a tear from her cheek as she started the engine once again. "Anything else you want to know?" she demanded, her voice cracked. "If not, I want to remind you that we still have a mission to carry out, and CRU are still after us."

* * *

Phoenix found a small hotel close to Heathrow Airport, where they could stay the night. Under the insistence of The Experiments, Phoenix booked two rooms with a connecting door, rather than one room for the seven of them to stay in.

Most of their afternoon was spent in silence, with The Experiments distancing themselves from Wanda. After Phoenix returned from a trip to collect dinner, she immediately noticed the clear segregation between her team and Maximoff. Quietly, Phoenix handed out Chinese takeout containers to everyone, and then sat down to talk with Wanda.

She told her everything about their mission. Starting from the very beginning, Phoenix ran through what they knew about Banner's research, their disappointment in finding that Riley West was the wrong person, and the plan to track down and talk with Dr Redfern.

The Experiments couldn't keep the stunned looks off their faces as they watched Phoenix reveal everything. Phoenix had only known Wanda for a day, and yet she already trusted her with all of the information they had gathered.

Heather was outraged, and that outrage carried on until the next morning. The second Heather woke up, she pulled Phoenix to the side. "Why do you trust her all of a sudden?" Heather demanded, surprised to see that Phoenix looked like she was expecting Heather's angry questions.

"Why shouldn't I trust her?" Phoenix questioned in response. "She's an Avenger."

"She also worked for Ultron," Heather argued, hissing through her teeth. "She's switched sides before, who's to say she won't do it to us."

"Wanda and I have a common enemy and similar motives," Phoenix told her calmly. "We've both suffered at the hands of Hydra. We've both been experimented on by Hydra. That gives Wanda more reason than anything to side with us."

"You don't want her here, you said so yourself when Steve ordered her to come with us," Heather pointed out, her hand motions becoming more vigorous as she grew more and more frustrated.

"I didn't want someone controlling my every move," Phoenix spat back, her voice growing dark. "I've been controlled by people before and I wasn't eager to have to live through that again. Now I know what Wanda is capable of and I know she's not here to constrict our movements. She's here to help us."

Phoenix declared the argument over as she turned her head and walked away. With a sour expression on her face, Heather angrily began to stuff her things into her bag, all the while shooting Wanda a nasty look from the corner of her eye.

The Experiments checked out of the hotel as a group, before following Phoenix outside. She led them to a seven seater jeep that she had stolen to replace yesterday's black van. They asked her where they were going, but she refused to give them an answer and ushered them into the vehicle.

Phoenix drove them on a mysterious route, doing her usual 10 kilometres above the speed limit as she impatiently wove through the London traffic. Eventually she pulled up in front of a large building in what appeared to be an industrial area.

As Phoenix exited the car, she finally gave her team an explanation. "Indoor basketball court," was what came from Phoenix's mouth as she nodded to the old brick building in front of them. The Experiments slowly turned their heads, one by one, to stare at Phoenix.

"What, are we gonna shoot some hoops before we go to Japan?" Josh questioned sarcastically.

"We're here for some Rush-Hour Training," Phoenix elaborated.

"Oh god," Mark groaned. "Not Rush-Hour."

"What's Rush-Hour training?" Wanda asked curiously, noting the deflated looks on the faces of The Experiments.

"Basically a lot of training in a short amount of time," Bella explained. "We try to do as much as possible, as fast as possible."

Phoenix drew a key from her pocket and inserted it into the keyhole of the building's front door. "Like I said yesterday, if we want to work together as a team, Wanda needs to see our abilities," Phoenix continued talking as she unlocked the door. "I'm calling a Rush-Hour because of CRU. I'm going to teach you everything about them, especially how to fight them."

Phoenix threw open the doors to reveal an indoor basketball court that looked a lot like the School Hall back at their high school in Charlotte. There were bleachers pushed to the sides, and hoops at either end of the hall. Not the mention badly painted walls, and a shiny wooden floor.

"Josh go to the centre of the room," Phoenix ordered as she pointed to the space where she wanted Josh to stand. "The rest of you, stay on this side of the room. Maximoff, I want you paying close attention, because one by one, The Experiments are going to give you a demonstration of their abilities. Starting with Josh."

As each member of The Experiments gave a quick demonstration of their abilities, Phoenix gave commentary to Wanda. She described each of their abilities in detail, told her of their strengths and weaknesses, and once again revealed everything to Wanda.

If The Experiments were irritated before, they were infuriated now. Heather gave her demonstration after Josh, and afterwards, proceeded to alternate between glaring at Phoenix, and glaring at Wanda. Mark was the last to demonstrate his abilities, and as he ran circles around the court, Heather saw Wanda's expression change.

Her curiosity faded, as her expression was replaced by one of sorrow. She watched Mark as if she was watching a ghost. A whimper escaped from the back of her throat, and a tear fell from her left eye. Phoenix immediately noticed Wanda's distress, and signalled for The Experiments to move to the other side of the room.

Gently, Phoenix placed an arm around Wanda's shoulder and led her outside. As they stepped outside, Phoenix released Wanda and closed the door behind them. Turning back to Wanda, she saw that tears were beginning to fall from her eyes more freely.

"Are you alright?" Phoenix asked. She made sure that there was some distance between herself and Wanda, but at the same time she kept herself close.

"My brother," Wanda explained, a tremor in her voice. "He was like that. He had super speed."

"Wanda I'm sorry," Phoenix apologised immediately. "I didn't know that your brother had that ability. If I knew, I wouldn't have forced you to watch that."

"No it's fine," Wanda reassured Phoenix as she wiped tears from her face. "You're right, we have to work together. I shouldn't have let it get to me."

Phoenix looked sceptical of Wanda's words, knowing full well how the simplest thing can traumatise a person. Wanda may have said that it's ok, but Phoenix knew that it wasn't. Once Wanda had completely calmed down, Phoenix opened the door for her.

As Wanda walked past her and stepped back into the building, Phoenix looked down at her own feet. She knew, in some respects, what Wanda was feeling. She knew trauma, it was her oldest friend. It hit her in that moment, the one thing that Phoenix didn't know, was how to deal with it.

Phoenix slammed the door behind her as she re-entered the building. The Experiments watched her in confusion as she walked past them, heading for the centre of the room. She rubbed her hands together, and cracked her knuckles as she walked.

Taking the centre of the room, Phoenix pivoted on one foot and turned around to look at Wanda and The Experiments. "Now it's time for my demonstration," Phoenix stated as she readied herself.

Josh leaned over to Mark and whispered. "Hold onto your pants Romeo, it's about to get hot in here." Mark's response was to slap Josh on the arm, and Bella, having heard Josh's comment, leaned forward and stood up on her toes to smack both of them across the back of their heads.

The group watched closely as Phoenix intertwined her arms and swayed her arms to the left and right. Fire sparked in her palms and spread up her arms and she continued moving her arms in graceful arcs. As she moved her body in a circular motion, flames formed at her feet and rose up around her, twirling around her body. Phoenix jarred to a stop, and the fire exploded around her and shot outwards, just coming to a stop before Wanda and The Experiments, before it dissipated.

Wanda exhaled the breath she had been holding and looked at Phoenix in astonishment. "I see why your name is Phoenix," Wanda commented. "That was beautiful to watch."

Phoenix was taken aback by Wanda's comment, and cleared her throat as she approached the group. "Well the time for fun and games is over," she told them. "Rush-Hour begins now."

Phoenix separated the group into pairs. She sent Mark and Josh over into one corner, Sam and Heather to another, and Wanda and Bella. Each pair worked on their fighting techniques as Phoenix walked in circles between the pairs, correcting them and showing them new moves that they had never seen Phoenix use before.

"CRU is one of the most well renowned and expertly trained Hydra combat forces," Phoenix spoke loudly so everyone in the building could hear her. "They are a pack of ruthless killers, and they stop at nothing to get their hands on victory. CRU has seven members, each with a different skill set, but all of them are equally as dangerous."

"Yesterday you met Carver, Raoul, Leda and Sara," Phoenix informed them. "In their ranks, there is also Owen, Journey and Jasper. CRU operates as a unit, much like us. Even though we didn't see them yesterday, I'm almost certain that the other three members of CRU are still out there. You need to know their strengths, their weaknesses, and everything in between."

"Let's start with Raoul," Phoenix walked over to Josh and took his knife off him, and quickly demonstrated a way for him to make cleaner strikes with the weapon. "Raoul is Carver's right hand man. An ex-member of the Brazilian armed forces, he's a ruthless strategist who always formulates the perfect attack plans. Make no mistakes, Raoul is extremely intelligent. He can work out your weaknesses in a second and use them against you. The best way to strike Raoul is from afar, if you get close to him, he'll take you down in less than a second. If you allow Raoul any control whatsoever of a situation, you might as well just dig your own grave and lie in it."

Moving onto Mark, Phoenix stood beside him and took his gun off him, showing him how to hold the gun more firmly, before handing it back to him. "Previously a North Korean spy, Leda now works for Hydra. You will always find her at Carver's side no matter what. Leda is made of shadows, she's a silent killer and you usually don't see her coming until you're already on the ground. In a room with Leda, you keep your eyes on her at all time. She's a deadly fighter, but if you want to take her down, be as brutal and as possible and never let your guard down for a second. If Leda sees any hesitation, she will strike."

Phoenix walked up behind Bella and placed a hand around her waist and on her stomach, slightly adjusting Bella's ready stance before she continued talking. "Sara is the daughter of a Ukrainian Gun Lord, and she has lived and breathed weaponry from the day she was born. Her expertise lies with ballistics, but if Sara has any type of weapon in her hand the results are usually disastrous. The way to get to Sara is to get close, she can shoot you directly between your eyes from fifty feet away, but she can't throw a punch for shit. Hand to hand combat is the only way to take her down."

Phoenix moved onto Wanda and corrected her arms as she continued talking. "Let's talk about the members of CRU you haven't met. First up, Journey. An African American gymnast who was rejected from the Olympics team because of the colour of her skin. Of course, Journey then decided that the best way to get revenge was to join Hydra, the proud Nazi group. Journey is fast, and her fighting style relies entirely on acrobatics. Fight Journey from a distance, if you get too close to her, she will take you down in a second flat."

"Next up is Jasper," Phoenix continued as she stepped in front of Sam and slowly moved through a technique to show him how to flip an opponent to the ground. "Jasper is of New Zealand origin, and she was snatched up by Hydra after she rigged a garbage truck to be remote controlled, and drove it into the centre of a SHIELD building. Hydra used her to design all of their tech and weapons. Jasper doesn't know the first thing about fighting, but if you allow her anywhere near anything mechanical or technological, she will kill you."

Phoenix stopped Heather midway through a punch and showed her how to hold her arms so her hits moved more smoothly. "Owen was previously Germany's best pro-wrestling heavyweight champion, but he was thrown from the league after he was discovered to be involved in Nazi activities, aka Hydra. He is extremely strong, and moves surprisingly fast for a man of his size. Don't, whatever you do, let Owen get his hands on you. The best way to fight Owen is with a weapon, never engage in hand to hand combat. I've seen him snap a man's neck in seconds."

As she finished correcting her team, Phoenix stood where they could see her and called them to attention. "Finally Carver. He has a long history and violence and mayhem, his activities as a ruthless gang leader is what led to Hydra employing him to lead CRU. Carver is skilled in all forms of combat, hand to hand and weapons. However he has a penchant for using blades, specifically swords. His strengths far outnumber his weaknesses, and I'm the only one here that knows him well enough to take him down. When a fight breaks out, leave Carver to me."

* * *

Even though it was late at night, Heathrow airport was still packed with people. Phoenix wasn't handling the crowds well, and kept frantically whipping her head around to scan her surroundings. She analysed every member of the crowd like they would attack at any moment.

"We should split up," Phoenix suggested as they reached their departure gate. "Split up and wander the gate lounges until they start boarding our flight. It's safer that way, so we aren't staying in one place where CRU can get to us easily."

"Don't you think you're being paranoid?" Heather questioned.

"Probably, but with CRU on our tails I want to be as cautious as possible," Phoenix responded. "Let's go in small groups. Mark, Josh and Heather can head in that direction," Phoenix ordered as she pointed to her left. "Sam and Wanda go the other way. Bella, you're with me. We'll meet back at the gate when they start boarding our flight."

With those instructions, the group split into three and headed in the directions that Phoenix had pointed to. Phoenix gestured for Bella to walk beside her as she entered a nearby store and pretended to look through the items.

"You don't think CRU will attack us at the airport do you?" Bella expressed her concerns as she stayed close to Phoenix's side.

"They'd be idiots to try and risk it," Phoenix replied. "But if Carver's as desperate to find me as he says, then he might be crazy enough to try it. Either way, we need to be on alert at all times."

"Are you alright?" Bella asked as Phoenix looked at the souvenir t-shirts in boredom.

"I'm fine," Phoenix responded. "Carver knows better than to shoot me."

"That's not what I meant Phoenix," Bella shook her head. Phoenix seemed to realise what she was asking, and immediately walked down the other side of the shelves, avoiding Bella's concerned eye through the gaps in the shelves. "This week has brought up traumatic memories, and I just want to know that you're ok."

"I'm fine Bella," Phoenix shook her off, keeping her eyes glued to the ground as Bella stepped around the shelves and walked towards her. "We have more important things to worry about right now."

"Phoenix if you want to talk, I'm always willing to listen. I care-" Bella tried to express herself to Phoenix, but was cut off when Phoenix grabbed her arm and pushed her up against the shelves, placing a hand on her mouth as she looked over the top of the shelves.

"There's someone watching us," Phoenix whispered. "It's not CRU, it's someone else."

Phoenix watched as the man looked up and down the shop, scanning for any sign of them. Eventually, the man turned on his heels and walked away. Once Phoenix was satisfied that he had gone, she looked down to see that she was inches from Bella's face. Phoenix took her hand away from her mouth and stepped backwards, clearing her throat as she did so.

"It makes sense now," Phoenix murmured as she locked eyes with Bella. "The car that was following us yesterday, that wasn't CRU. If it was CRU, they would've attacked us. That man was tailing us in the car yesterday, and today he's stalking us in the airport."

"Does that mean there's more than one group after us?" Bella asked, her eyes wide.

"It looks like it," Phoenix answered. Running a hand through her hair, Phoenix began to pace up and down while Bella watched. "Who was it?" Phoenix asked herself, speaking her thoughts out loud. "I didn't recognise them, it could've been anyone."

"Phoenix look," Bella caught her attention as she pointed to the departures board. "Our flight's boarding."

Phoenix saw the board and grabbed Bella's hand, catching Bella by surprise. Phoenix led her back to their gate, her eyes darting back and forth as she readied herself for an attack. Thankfully, the group was already assembled and waiting for them in the line-up to board the plane. Phoenix shoved her way past people in an attempt to reach them, Bella trailing along behind her.

"There's someone following us," Phoenix informed them, her voice lowered to a whisper. "It's not CRU. I couldn't get a good look at whoever it was, but I'm fairly certain that it's the same person who was tailing us in the car yesterday."

"Crap," Heather breathed. "What are we meant to do now that we have both CRU and this person on our tail?"

Seeing the concern amongst the rest of the group, Phoenix quickly came to a decision about what to do. "We keep moving," she answered. "The sooner we get this mission over and done with, then the sooner we can get home. This problem isn't going to go away anytime soon, but let's just deal with one thing at a time."

"What time do we arrive in Tokyo?" Wanda asked, turning over her boarding pass to look at the details.

"6PM tomorrow, because Tokyo is 8 hours ahead of London and this is an 11 hour flight," Phoenix explained.

"I'm going to be really jet-lagged after this," Josh commented darkly as they finally reached the attendants at the front desk who checked their boarding passes before letting them through the doors. "If we ever get back to America, I'm just going to sleep for a week."

Josh's comment went ignored, as The Experiments were still focused on the issue at hand. "Phoenix are you absolutely sure that you were being followed?" Heather questioned cautiously.

"I know a tracking pattern when I see one," Phoenix replied. "His movements were far too organised for someone who was just walking around, he was definitely tailing us. If I had to guess, I'd say he's been following us for a while now. I can't believe I didn't notice earlier, God I'm such an idiot."

"Don't beat yourself up, for that guy to fool you he must've been an expert," Bella comforted her, placing a hand on Phoenix's arm instinctively. Phoenix flinched at her touch and shrugged Bella's hand away. Bella cleared her throat and turned to address the group surrounding her. "I think Phoenix and I got a brief glimpse of who it was. I should be able to sketch a rough facial profile, like the ones they do in police shows."

"I didn't see his face," Phoenix informed her, the slightest hint of annoyance in her tone. "He was careful never to look at us directly. I only ever got glimpses of the side of his face. You're right, he was definitely an expert."

"Will he follow us to Japan?" Wanda wondered aloud, expressing her worries to Phoenix.

"Most likely," Phoenix answered. "CRU are still lurking around as well, and the second they realise that we've left the country, they'll be coming after us. If we encounter them in Japan, our only option is to run for it. Carver wants me alive, and I doubt he has the guts to kill Wanda, but her won't have any issues with killing any of you," Phoenix addressed The Experiments. "He thinks that none of you have abilities, and we need to keep it that way. If you reveal your abilities, you might as well paint a target on your chests."


	10. The Examination

**A/N: Guess what? Chapter 10 is here, on time once again, I'm getting so good at this. First of all, huge thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favourited and followed this story so far, you guys are the best. From what I see in the reviews, everyone seems to love Phoenix, which is absolutley spectacular. In this chapter, there is a reference to something that happened in the first story. It's not necessary for you to read it as I do explain eveything you need to know, but if you want to read it, go to my profile page and scroll down until you find Love and Fire which is the first in the series. Nothing more for me to say, I think I've ranted enough. As always, don't forget to read, review and enjoy.**

* * *

There weren't many large vehicles to seat seven people in Japan. Upon their landing in Tokyo's Narita International Airport, it took Phoenix nearly an hour to acquire an appropriate car, and during that time, The Experiments and Wanda were left to wait inside the airport. The entirety of that time was spent watching the people that walked past, checking to see if they were CRU, or the other mysterious individual that was following them.

Phoenix returned, driving a twelve seater mini bus with the logo of a Japanese tour company on the side. Heather stood still with her mouth open as Phoenix pulled up, and she stared at the bus for a long time before she eventually got in.

"I'm not even going to ask," Josh muttered as he sat down next to Bella.

"I am," Heather leaned forward in order to get closer to Phoenix. "What the hell is this?"

"The best I could find," Phoenix answered. "We're in a rush, I didn't have a lot of time to do comparison shopping. Dr Redfern leaves for Hiroshima tomorrow morning and I didn't want to wait. The sooner we do this, the less time CRU has to track us down."

"Where is Dr Redfern anyway?" Sam asked. "How do we find her?"

"I already know where she is," Phoenix replied hesitantly, eyeing her teammates cautiously from the corner of her eye. "There's a military base on the outskirts of Tokyo, controlled by the Japanese self-defence forces. Dr Redfern works there."

"A military base?" Mark repeated. "What does the Japanese military want with genetics research?"

"It's no coincidence that West referred us to Amanda Redfern after I mentioned Bruce Banner," Phoenix explained. "Dr Redfern is researching the effects of the radiation from the atomic bomb on human genetics, and Banner was trying to recreate the Super Solider Serum using radiation. Put two and two together."

"The Japanese think that the radiation from the atomic bomb gives humans superpowers, and they recruited Redfern to test their theory," Josh guessed. "And we, a group of people with superpowers, are going to walk directly into the centre of this military base. Great idea Phoenix."

"As long as none of us use our abilities we should be fine," Phoenix offered. "I have a plan to get into the base. But we're going to need disguises."

* * *

Mark laughed when he saw Josh and Bella in military uniforms, however his laughter was cut short when he saw Phoenix. She had managed to find a military uniform that fit her almost perfectly, aside from being too tight around her chest. The buttons were pulled tight enough so that some of Phoenix's cleavage could be seen. Mark had to pinch himself on the elbow in order to stop staring.

Phoenix ran through the plan, and the only reason that Mark actually listened, was because he found himself unable to look at anyone but Phoenix. The plan, as Phoenix said, was simple. All they needed to do was drive right into the compound. Phoenix, Bella and Josh would sit in the front of the truck, while the rest of them would hide in the back underneath a tarp.

"I could just run through the front gates, they wouldn't see me," Mark offered.

Phoenix glared at him. She looked different with her red hair tucked into the hat that she wore as part of the military uniform, but she still looked good. "Didn't you hear me when I said that we can't use our abilities?" Phoenix asked rhetorically, adjusting the bottom of her shirt as she spoke.

Mark didn't want to argue, so he simply shook his head and went back to what he was doing. Somehow, Phoenix had managed to get her hands on a military Jeep, which she ordered The Experiments to enter and assume their positions.

Mark lay flat on his back between Heather and Sam, taking small breaths in order not to move the tarp covering him. He felt the Jeep shudder and rumble to life underneath his back, and nearly clutched the tarp for support as the car lurched forward. Phoenix, without a doubt, probably had her foot pressed too hard on the accelerator.

Phoenix braked as she came up to the checkpoint, and carefully eyed the two guards standing by the gate. As she pulled, up she rolled down the window and examined the two men, waiting for them to speak. As Phoenix expected, they spoke to her in Japanese. They were asking her for identification, she hoped.

Phoenix enacted her cover, and gave them her false identification. Speaking in the best Japanese she was able to muster from her translation book, Phoenix informed them that they were American transfers sent here to assist with Dr Redfern's transport to Hiroshima. Phoenix's research had delivered her with the information that the Japanese were working in collaboration with a branch of the US Army, and she was putting that information to good use.

They opened the gate to allow her through, and Phoenix, with a smirk on her face, shot through the gate. She pulled up outside the building, stepped out of the car and opened the back of the truck. The other four were pulling the tarp off themselves as Phoenix opened the door.

"Let's get our gear on," Phoenix ordered as she stepped into the back, unbuttoning her shirt as she spoke, to reveal her red tank top underneath. "No weapons, but we need our suits. I want to be ready for anything that might get thrown at us."

"Plus our outfits are cool," Sam commented as he gestured to his own suit that he was already wearing.

Sam wore a two piece suit, comprised of a black zipper vest with a diagonal red stripe on his chest, either side of the vest zipper, meeting to form what looked like a triangle with its bottom side missing. He wore black ¾ pants, and thick soled black combat boots that came up to his ankles. On his hand, he wore fingerless, elbow length black gloves, and around his hips he wore a thick belt.

"They're not outfits Sam, they're suits," Heather corrected him. She also already wore her suit, but adjusted the waist belt as she spoke. "But they are pretty cool I will admit."

Heather wore an all-black one piece suit, the pants reaching her ankles, and the sleeves of her top reaching halfway down her forearms. The suit had a deep V neckline that could be adjusted via zipper, and Heather wore it just low enough to show off minimal cleavage. Slung loosely around her hips, was a red belt with a gun holster on the right, and around her waist was another red belt, designed for holding ammunition. On her feet, she wore tall boots with a high, and thick heel.

"Yeah, designed for kicking ass," Mark gushed as he marvelled at his own suit.

Mark had a one piece suit, all black in colour, except for the red stripes that ran down either side of the suit's body, on the inside of the sleeves and a single red stripe across the chest. The suit had long sleeves, and ankle length pants that clung tightly to his legs. On the back of his suit, there was a panel composed of several magnets, designed to hold Mark's sword. Instead of combat boots like the majority of the team, Mark wore specially designed running shoes.

"Actually I designed them to play off our abilities and be perfect for tactical missions," Bella informed him as she took off her pants, her suit already on underneath her stolen military uniform.

Bella wore a one piece suit with long sleeves and knee length tights. The majority of the suit was black aside from the red bodice, and the material of the suit clung tightly to her body and enunciated her shape. Her lace up boots reached halfway up her calves and at the back of the thick soles, a button could be seen. Its purpose was to retract the blades in the front of the shoe.

"I turn invisible. So why then do I even need a suit?," Josh questioned her as he threw his military uniform into the corner and pulled at the sleeves of his suit. "It'd be easier if I was just naked."

Josh's one piece suit was simplistic in its design. Long sleeves and pants, mostly black in colour aside from the red across the shoulders and collarbones, and on the lower half of his sleeves. Much like Mark's suit, it had two magnetic panels imbedded into the back, but it was designed for holding two batons rather than a sword. On his feet, were shoes with a soft sole, making it easier for Josh to move without being heard.

"We're not having this discussion again," Phoenix cut across Bella before she could give Josh an answer, pulling on her jacket as she turned back around to face her team, fully suited.

Phoenix's outfit was much different to that of her team members, rather than having a super suit, she wore tactical gear. She wore a red tank top with a neckline just low enough to be appropriate and long black tights. Around her hips, was a black belt with a pouch on the left side, and around her right leg was a gun strap and holster. On her feet, were heavy combat boots with a thick sole, and on her hands she wore fingerless black leather gloves. She also wore a waist length black leather jacket with elbow length sleeves that were rolled at the ends to reveal the red material on the inside of the jacket, the same red material also showing on her upturned collar.

The group turned to Wanda who looked underdressed in comparison to them. Wanda simply shrugged, "I didn't really have an opportunity to prepare for this mission," she excused herself as she looked down at her own civilian clothes.

"It's fine, you're wearing red and black, those are our colours," Phoenix reassured her.

Wanda marvelled at their colour coordinated outfits and smiled. "You work well as a team," she complimented them. "You seem to work together better than The Avengers."

"The old Avengers barely worked together at all," Phoenix commented as she removed the weapons from her belt and placed them on the ground at her feet. "Everyone kept secrets from each other, and everyone worked different angles. Take Tony and Bruce for example, they went behind the Avengers' backs to create Ultron and nearly destroyed the world. We don't have those secrets here. We work together, no one goes behind anyone's back."

Phoenix looked down as Project Achilles lurked into the back of her mind. The information was dangerous. She had to reassure herself that the only reason she was keeping it from them was to keep them safe. The guilt still refused to leave her. Was she trying to keep them safe? Or was she protecting her own integrity?

"Well we got into the compound. Now how do we get into the actual building?" Josh questioned as he stepped out of the back of the jeep.

"We're going to walk in and hope that no one asks us too many questions because my Japanese is limited," Phoenix answered as she jumped down from the jeep and stashed a knife into her back pocket. "I might accidentally ask someone to borrow their tractor."

"You spend too much time on the farm with Barton," Heather muttered as they began walking in the direction of the building's entrance in a group formation.

Phoenix strode through the entrance of the building, ignoring the stares of the two guards at either side of the glass doors. Her team followed her closely, attempting to pull off the same illusion of confidence. The three people seated at the front desk shot them a strange look, eyeing their outfits up and down with confusion. But they said nothing as the group continued on their way.

Josh walked with impeccably straight posture and tense shoulders. He inched his way closer to Phoenix and whispered in her ear. "Do you know where we're going right now?" he asked, eyes darting back and forth between the soldiers that they passed in the hallways. "I don't want to be tackled by a Ninja G.I Joe."

"I got it covered," Phoenix responded. "Dr Redfern's laboratory is just up ahead."

Josh eyed the sign that Phoenix pointed to, which was composed entirely of Japanese characters. "Oh yeah, you definitely know where we're going," he muttered sarcastically.

Phoenix approached the door and pushed it open without bothering to knock. She held the door open for the rest of the team before she slammed it close with a flick of her wrist and turned on her heels to face Dr Redfern, The Experiments and Wanda flanking her from behind.

Dr Redfern, a tall woman with short brown hair, looked up from a specimen she was examining in a microscope, to see The Experiments watching her expectantly. She eyed them cautiously before she took off her safety glasses and rose to a normal height from her position leaning over the lab bench.

Immediately, she locked eyes with Phoenix and tensed, her eyes widening at the sight of a teenage girl in tactical gear. Her expression seemed almost fearful as she stared at Phoenix. Her expression changed to confusion before Dr Redfern finally cleared her throat and spoke.

"Can I help you?" she asked in a faded American accent.

"I hope so, otherwise we came all this way for nothing," Phoenix responded as she approached Redfern and held out her hand for a handshake. "Dr Redfern, my name is Phoenix Romanoff. Someone told me you'd be able to decipher human genetics research for me."

Dr Redfern accepted Phoenix's handshake, but still stared at her through narrow eyes. "I'm sorry, exactly how old are you?"

"I'm 16, but that's not relevant," Phoenix responded. "Can you help us or not?"

"16?" Redfern repeated in question, staring Phoenix up and down in disbelief, particularly focusing on her attire. "I can help you yes, I'm one of the world's leading experts on the study of human DNA. But I have to ask, what does a teenager want with human genetics research?"

"It's a long story," Phoenix replied with a sideways look in the direction of her team, before she whipped the flash drive from her pocket and held it up in front of Redfern. "What's on this USB could be of great help to your research. If you can tell me what's on it, I'll consider letting you keep a copy."

"What exactly do you know about my research, Miss Romanoff?" Redfern questioned, attempting to sound detached. However Phoenix could see her fingers twitching and her eyes laser focused on the USB. She wanted the flash drive, but was trying to keep her cool.

Phoenix obliged, and tossed her the USB, which Redfern managed to catch. "Human DNA studies paired with samples of the radiation from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It's not hard to guess what you're researching Dr Redfern. You're trying to find a way to create superpowers."

Redfern looked down at the USB in her hands and grinned. "You've got yourself a deal," she told her as she marched over to the nearest computer and jammed the USB in. As she opened a few of the files, she glanced at Phoenix over the top of the computer monitor. "There's a lot of research to look at here. I might need some time to decipher it all."

The Experiments walked over to Phoenix and circled around her. Some of them appeared questioning, and the rest just seemed outraged. "You just gave her all the research, just like that?" Heather demanded an explanation, nostrils flaring as she glared at Dr Redfern. "Phoenix we're going to get lynched."

"She needed an incentive," Phoenix responded, her voice lowered to a whisper. "Don't worry, our names aren't anywhere within the research, I had Sam go through and check everything in London. As far as Redfern knows, the samples are just from codenamed test subjects. Banner wasn't an idiot, he never gave away our identities."

"Besides, I've got a little present lined up for her," Sam added with a smirk in Phoenix's direction. "When we leave, I'm gonna cook the drive with enough electricity to make it completely unreadable. She can't copy the files to her own hard drive either, I made sure of that."

With Phoenix and Sam having reassured The Experiments, they moved to waiting while Dr Redfern analysed Banner's results. Wanda, recognising that the situation didn't involve her, communicated briefly with Phoenix before she stepped outside the door, electing herself to keep watch.

Phoenix was growing more anxious with every passing minute. She paced up and down the room, her eyes darting nervously over the scientific equipment within the laboratory. Tony's labs within the Avengers Tower were all modern in design, and involved open spaces with glass walls. Dr Redfern's laboratory felt cramped, with pristine white benches and walls. Phoenix felt herself being suffocated, and kept drawing in shaky breaths as her vision flicked between what was in front of her, and her own memories.

In an attempt to keep her mind distracted, Phoenix hovered around Dr Redfern. It didn't help, because what Phoenix saw over her shoulder was just a collection of more scientific research. He would never study his research on a computer unless necessary, it was all handwritten notes.

"Miss Romanoff, these results are incredible," Dr Redfern caught Phoenix's attention, barely hiding her excitement. "I've never seen anything like this before. You've gotta come and look at these."

Phoenix shot a hesitant look in the direction of her team before she cautiously moved to stand beside Dr Redfern. She caught a glimpse of the gleeful Dr Redfern before she turned her head to look at the images on the computer monitor. It was the DNA strand from Phoenix's samples, but thankfully, Dr Redfern didn't know that.

"The genetic coding of this subject's DNA shows incredibly advanced mutations. The DNA has been rewritten in a way that I can barely even comprehend. I haven't even had a chance to look at the chromosomes yet but I'm sure they'll give similar results," Dr Redfern informed her.

"Mutations?" Bella repeated fearfully from the corner of the room.

"When you say mutations what do you mean?" Phoenix questioned.

"DNA is what makes up chromosomes," Dr Redfern explained. "Chromosomes carry genetic information in the form of genes, and genes are responsible for the distinctive characteristics of a living organism. Mutations occur when the structure of a gene is changed, but I've never seen a mutation like this on such a large scale."

Phoenix's breath caught in her throat as she looked at her team. They wore similar expressions of fear. Banner's description of severe abnormalities seemed pale in comparison to Dr Redfern's analysis. There were several more minutes of anxious silence while Phoenix turned her back and placed a hand to her mouth.

Dr Redfern flicked her eyes over her shoulder briefly, to glance at Phoenix's back. Her eyes moved downwards to the closed drawer underneath her right elbow. She had to wait patiently, until she was able to get what she wanted from the girl. After so long, God had finally delivered. Her chance for revenge had walked itself into her laboratory.

After a minute of running over the information in her own head, Dr Redfern called for Phoenix's attention once again. Phoenix leaned over the desk to look at the images shown on the computer screen. They didn't mean much to Phoenix, but to Dr Redfern they seemed to classify as one of the seven wonders of the world.

"These chromosomes are...I can't even describe it," Dr Redfern stammered as she looked over the images. "The subject is a human female judging from the 22 chromosome pairs and the sex chromosomes, but I can't be entirely sure because the chromosomes are so different to that of a normal human. They're far more advanced than anything I've ever seen in a human sample."

"Are you saying that the subject isn't human?" Mark asked, the concern evident in his voice.

"If anything, this subject is more than human," Dr Redfern answered. "A Superhuman."

The room went quite at the utterance of the word Superhuman. It wasn't the first time the word had been used in front of The Experiments, but it was the first time it had been used as a technical term. They knew that their abilities succeeded normal human capabilities, but they could never have imagined that it went as far as this.

"What do you know about the specific changes?" Phoenix questioned. "Can you identify what caused the mutations?"

"It might be possible, but all I have here is the research and results of previous experimentations," Dr Redfern replied. "To determine the cause of the mutations I would have to conduct the experiments myself. To do that, I would need samples from the subject."

"You can do your Experiments with a blood sample right?" Phoenix inquired. Without hesitation, Phoenix took off her jacket and placed it onto the bench next to her. She held out her arm to Dr Redfern, exposing the veins on the inside of her elbow. "There's your sample," Phoenix announced.

Dr Redfern said nothing as she quietly retrieved a needle from the cupboard beside her. Holding Phoenix's arm steady with her left hand, she prepped the needle with her right hand. Phoenix didn't even blink as Dr Redfern injected the needle and drew a sample of her blood.

Dr Redfern took the needle and examined the blood inside it as Phoenix stepped back. Heather came up behind her and whispered angrily. "I can't believe you just did that," Heather hissed. "You just put yourself at risk. Who knows what she's going to do with that sample."

"Don't worry about me Heather," Phoenix responded in a low voice. "Finding out what damage has been done to our genetics is far more important than my personal safety."

"At this point, I think you believe that everything is more important that your own personal safety," Heather snapped angrily. "Seriously, the self-sacrificing crap needs to stop-"

No sooner than the words left Heather's mouth, Dr Redfern opened the draw next to her and pulled out a gun, aiming it directly at Phoenix. Phoenix's immediate response was to step in front of Heather and place her right arm in front of her to cover Heather in a protective stance.

"Stay back," Phoenix warned The Experiments, who had tried to inch forward.

"Don't think I didn't recognise you the second you walked through that door!" Dr Redfern shouted. "But I bet you didn't recognise me. Can't tell me apart from the hundreds of people whose lives you ruined that day!"

"What are you talking about?" Phoenix questioned, trying to keep her voice calm as her eyes focused on the gun.

"Navy Pier!" Dr Redfern screeched in response. To make her point more clearly known, Dr Redfern yanked up the sleeve of her lab coat, revealing the scarred evidence of third degree burns covering her arm. "You killed my son!"

Phoenix stopped as a flood of memories began drowning her. It was all a blur of fire and screams. So many unnecessary deaths, and for what? A statement. He may have given her the order, but she had been the one to execute it. The blood was on her hands.

Mark remembered Navy Pier with distressing clarity. Phoenix had come to collect him for Doctor Blake, and SHIELD had attempted to intercept her. Phoenix had killed all SHIELD agents on the scene, and in the process, killed 33 civilians. Phoenix had set a Ferris wheel on fire, which then crushed a building before sliding off the pier. Mark knew that it wasn't Phoenix, it was Doctor Blake acting through Phoenix, but Dr Redfern didn't know that.

"I didn't mean for anyone to die," Phoenix spoke quietly, her voice nothing more than a ghostly whisper.

"Don't lie to me!" Dr Redfern cried, her hand holding the gun shaking as she became more and more hysterical. Without a steady hand, if Dr Redfern fired, anyone in the room could get hit. "I saw you! I watched you laugh as you destroyed those helicopters! Did you laugh when you set that Ferris wheel on fire and killed my son?"

"Dr Redfern you're putting everyone in this room in danger," Phoenix warned as she stared at the trembling gun. Raising the hand she wasn't using to hold Heather back, Phoenix motioned for Dr Redfern to calm down. "They didn't do anything wrong. I'm the one you want to kill, they're not a part of this. Please, don't put innocent people in the firing line."

"Like you did?" Dr Redfern hissed, her hand tightening on the trigger. "As long as you die, I don't care who goes down with you."


	11. The Vanishing

**A/N: Sorry about the cliffhanger last chapter. Was it a cliffhanger? I didn't think it was suspenseful enough to be a cliffhanger personally. So with this chapter, let's pick up where we left off. Huge things happen in this chapter, you need to pay close attention folks. Let's just say, if you thought the last chapter ended on a cliffhanger, just wait for the end of this one. So as always, don't forget to read, review and enjoy.**

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Heather jumped into action, and pushed Phoenix's arm out of her way as she stepped between Phoenix and Dr Redfern, making direct eye contact with the barrel of her gun. The Experiments wasted no time in following suit. Bella, Mark, Sam and Josh flanked Heather on either side, blocking Dr Redfern's clear shot of Phoenix.

"You should recognise me then because I was at Navy Pier as well," Mark declared as took a step forward. "The Phoenix that wreaked havoc on Navy Pier is not the same person standing behind me. She was being controlled by a madman. She was tortured and brainwashed to follow orders, her actions were the orders of a psychopath."

"You can't prove that," Dr Redfern spat.

"Yes we can," Bella corrected her as she stepped forward and pointed to the computer, still displaying Banner's research on the screen. "There's your proof. The madman controlling Phoenix, he's the one that changed us into Superhumans. He tried to turn Phoenix into a weapon, and he nearly succeed. But I promise you, she's not that person anymore," Bella turned to look Phoenix in the eye as she smiled. "Phoenix Romanoff is a hero. She's pulled me out of the path of a bullet more times than I can count."

"Phoenix helped hundreds of Sokovian evacuees after the Avengers battle with Ultron," Sam spoke up defensively.

"Phoenix has spent the last year leading our team to take down Hydra bases and organised crime rings all over America," Josh contributed.

"And too many times Phoenix has put herself in the firing line to save others, including sacrificing herself to save me and nearly dying because of it," Heather added. "And this is me repaying the favour. If you want to shoot Phoenix, you have to go through me first!"

"No!" Phoenix exclaimed, pushing her way forward to stand in front of Heather. She hesitated for a second, before she slowly approached Dr Redfern's gun, moving forward until her forehead was pressed against the gun's barrel. "Point blank range, you can't possibly miss. If you're going to shoot me, do it now."

Dr Redfern made eye contact with Phoenix, who remained stoic with her forehead pressed against the gun. The tension within the room escalated into a situational crescendo, before Dr Redfern dropped the gun, letting it clatter to the ground. Phoenix exhaled a breath no one knew she had been holding in, and took a shaky step away from Dr Redfern.

"I noticed you on the pier before the helicopters arrived," Dr Redfern mumbled. "I knew there was something wrong with you, you looked ill. I could tell that you had been mistreated, but I was so caught up in punishing my son's killer that I didn't pay attention to what I'd seen."

"I know it's not much consolation, but I'm sorry," Phoenix told her as she picked up the gun and placed it onto the bench gently. "And I know you have no reason to, but we really need your help. What you said earlier, about being able to identify what caused the change in our genes. Would you still be able to do that?"

"I have every reason to help you," Dr Redfern replied, staring up at Phoenix with a distant expression. "After my son died, I made it my mission to find out everything possible about people with powers. All my work over the past year and a half has been dedicated to finding other what gives people abilities, and how to stop them."

Heather stepped forward. "How can we trust you to keep quiet after you tried to kill Phoenix?" She demanded. "For all we know you're going to turn all of this information over to the Japanese."

"Trust me, I don't want them getting their hands on this research any more than you do," Dr Redfern reassured her. "In their hands, it'll be weaponised. No, I was just using the Japanese government as a means to an end. I assure you, I'm not handing any of this stuff over to them."

"So you'll help us?" Bella asked, searching for confirmation.

"Yes I'll help you," Dr Redfern answered, turning her head to look Phoenix directly in the eye. "But first, I need your word that you'll never use your abilities to harm innocent people."

"You have my word," Phoenix responded immediately.

Dr Redfern nodded in acceptance of her answer before she opened a drawer filled with more empty syringes. "I'll need a blood sample from the rest of you in order to examine the mutations properly," Redfern informed them. "Whatever it was that did this may have caused different changes for each of you."

One by one The Experiments rolled up their sleeves and allowed Dr Redfern to take a sample of their blood. Once she was finished, Dr Redfern took the samples and placed them away, ensuring that they were stored in an appropriate environment before she conducted her tests.

"I got to Hiroshima tomorrow morning to collect samples, but I'll be back late that night. As soon as I have the opportunity, I'll examine the samples and find out as much as I can," Dr Redfern told them. "I'll need a way to contact you to let you know when I've finished my examination."

As Heather handed over the mobile phone number, Phoenix pulled Sam aside and began whispering to him. "Don't fry the flash drive yet," Phoenix instructed him. "Redfern might need it for her research. Besides, I think we can trust her not to give us away."

"But what about-?" Sam got halfway through his question before he was interrupted.

Wanda threw open the door, wearing an expression of panic as she looked to Phoenix. "CRU are here," she announced. "There's more of them this time. I counted seven people at the front desk."

"We need to go now!" Phoenix shouted to her team as she immediately leapt into action. Directing her attention to Redfern, she asked. "Is there another way out of here?"

"You can go out through the aircraft hangar at the back of the building," Dr Redfern answered, pointing right as she spoke. "What's going? Is someone after you?"

"Yes and they're extremely dangerous," Phoenix informed her as she ran to the door, turning back only briefly to say one last thing to Dr Redfern. "Don't tell them that we were here, and whatever you do, don't let them get their hands on the research. They're the ones who will use this information to harm innocent people."

Phoenix ran out of the laboratory, The Experiments rushing after her. Mark ran at normal speed at the begged request of Phoenix, who kept frantically glancing behind them as they ran. Soldiers in the hallways were beginning to notice them as they ran for their lives. This just attracted more unwanted attention, and put them at a greater risk.

As the group rounded a corner, they came face to face with a man at the end of the hallway. He was incredibly tall, with impossibly sized muscles, and a mean jawline that looked as if it could break stone. He locked eyes with Phoenix, and cracked his right knuckle against his left palm.

"Owen," Phoenix whispered in shock, walking backwards as the man approached them at a calm pace. Shoving their shoulders, Phoenix directed The Experiments to the opposite direction of their slow moving pursuer. "Go! Run!"

They turned back the way they came, Phoenix at the back of the group, shouting for them to keep moving as she frantically glanced behind her while running. Wanda and Heather led the group at the front, turning down random corners in the hope of circling around to the far end of the building where they could access the aircraft hangar.

The Experiments stopped abruptly as they turned another corner. Phoenix ran through the centre of the group to see another figure blocking their path. A tall woman with dark skin, and a nimble, but strong body, stood at the end of the hallway. She locked eyes with them before she began approaching at a relaxed pace.

"Journey!" Phoenix exclaimed, pushing her group backwards. "Keep moving! Go!"

Phoenix took the lead this time around, desperately attempting to take them on a route back to the aircraft hangar. It seemed that the soldiers on the base had realised something was wrong, and had started grabbing weapons and evacuating the building.

"Dammit!" Phoenix exclaimed as she saw the soldiers moving past them, ignorant to the situation. "CRU have made a deal with them!"

Phoenix continued running, The Experiments now struggling to keep up. They were forced to a jarring halt once again as a tile was dislodged from the ceiling and a figure jumped down, landing in a crouched position. The woman lifted her head upwards to look at Phoenix, her narrow, dark eyes devoid of emotion.

Leda rose to her feet and took a ready stance, beckoning Phoenix forward with her fists. Phoenix held out her hands protectively in front of her team, attempting to shield them from Leda's blank stare. Leda said something to Phoenix in a different language, most likely Korean.

"Not today," Phoenix responded in English.

Phoenix thrust her hands outwards, a jet of flame coming off her hands that headed directly for Leda. She ducked out of the way, but the distraction gave The Experiments and Wanda enough time to turn on their heels and take off in the opposite direction.

Knowing full well that they wouldn't be unable to outrun Leda, Phoenix came to a halt in front of a service cupboard and kicked the door open. The others wasted no time in running inside, and Phoenix followed them, slamming the door behind her.

The cupboard gave just enough moving space for all seven of them, but it still felt cramped. Phoenix kept her hand on the door at all times, her ear pressed against the keyhole as she listened intently for any sign of CRU's approach. There were noises in the distance, but nothing nearby.

"We can't stay here forever," Wanda reminded them after a minute of anxious waiting had gone past.

"You're right," Phoenix agreed with her. "If we don't make our way out of here soon, they'll catch us backed into a corner with nowhere to go."

"How are we meant to make it to the aircraft hangar?" Sam questioned fearfully. "They're everywhere."

"They're boxing us in," Phoenix exclaimed. "It's their most used and most effective tactic. They have one member at each corner of the building, and slowly, they make their way inwards, trapping whoever it is they're after. Unless we can shake them off our tail, that'll be us."

"Well then we just have to find a path they haven't blocked," Heather spoke with a small amount of optimism in her tone. "Once we slip past them, we run for it as fast as possible out of the aircraft hangar, and we're home free."

"It won't work," Phoenix told her. "Maybe one person would be able to slip past unnoticed, but not a group of seven. There's only one way to get past them. A distraction," Phoenix clenched the door handle tighter as she spoke. "I'll run in the opposite direction of the hangar. CRU will chase me, giving you six enough time to get to the hangar and escape."

"No," Bella protested, grabbing Phoenix's arm before she had a chance to open the door. "That's seven against one Phoenix, even you can't beat those odds. CRU will capture you."

"It doesn't matter what happens to me, as long as you get out alive," Phoenix argued, looking Bella in the eye. "Once CRU have me, they'll leave you alone and you'll be safe."

"Why are you always doing this?" Heather demanded angrily as she shoved her way past Wanda and Mark in order to stand directly in front of Phoenix. "Whenever anything goes wrong, the first thing you always do is try and sacrifice yourself for us. Why?"

Phoenix looked her in the eye for a second before she looked down and avoided all eye contact. "Because I don't matter," Phoenix answered quietly. "My life means nothing, but your lives do."

Phoenix's response left The Experiments in a state of stunned silence. None of them could find the right words for what she had just said. Bella gave up on her desperate attempt to stop Phoenix from making another sacrifice, and slowly let her arm drop, releasing Phoenix.

"Phoenix please," Mark begged as she started to turn the door handle. "You might not think that you matter, but to us, you do. You're our friend and our leader. We can find a way out of here without any of us getting hurt. We always do."

Phoenix hesitated, before she finally released the door handle and stepped away from it. "There's another option," she told them. "But it's not exactly a solid plan."

"We'll take it," Josh nodded. "I don't care what the plan is, as long as you don't sacrifice yourself."

"We're going to run for it," Phoenix told them as her hand went to the doorknob once again.

Surprisingly, the team offered no complaints, and readied themselves as Phoenix's hand slowly turned the door handle. She counted down from three to one, and the instant she reached one, Phoenix threw the door open and took off down the hallway as fast as possible, praying desperately that her team was following her.

Shouting from behind indicated that CRU had spotted them, meaning that they had to run faster for any hope of making it out alive. Multiple voices yelled from behind them, but The Experiments and Wanda dared not look back. They made it to the door of the hangar as one of the members from CRU began firing what sounded like a shotgun.

Phoenix threw open the door, revealing a large hangar designed for holding fighter jets. The door opened to a position halfway up the wall of the hangar, and led onto a small metal staircase that created a path from the door, down to the floor of the hangar. The hangar was devoid of jets, and the doors leading outside, were wide open.

The Experiments ran down the small staircase in a single file line. As they almost reached the bottom, four members of CRU that they recognised as Sara, Raoul, Owen and Journey, appeared in the doorway. They thundered down the staircase one after the other as they continued their chase, Raoul being the only one to hesitate as he relayed a message to the missing members of CRU.

"Keep moving!" Phoenix cried out to her team as she looked back and saw CRU advancing.

A metallic grinding sound echoed throughout the hangar as the doors began closing, The Experiments meters away when they finally slammed shut. A figure stepped forward, holding the control panel for the door in her hands. Jasper, the final member of CRU, revealed herself to be a woman of average height and light brown skin. Her long fingers waggled the control panel in front of the crestfallen Experiments.

"Too late," Jasper mocked them as The Experiments turned around to see that CRU had them trapped.

Carver appeared in the doorway at that moment, and flanking him on his right, was Leda. Carver saw Phoenix and beamed as he clasped his hands around the railings of the staircase. He moved forward and grabbed either side of the railings before slid down the staircase with a swift movement.

He landed cleanly on his feet as he swung off the end of the railings and began approaching The Experiments, Leda shadowing him. Jasper moved from behind them and slunk around to stand with CRU, who had parted down the middle, allowing Carver to walk forward.

"Looks like you're in a corner, little bird," Carver taunted, moving closer to Phoenix. "You should've known better than to run from us."

"Desperate times, desperate measures," Phoenix shot back, clenching her fists.

Carver laughed, a dry chuckle in the back of his voice. "You've gotten catty," he commented. "Whatever happened to the little girl who obeyed every order? I loved the quiet Phoenix, but I gotta admit, I like the dominant Phoenix as well."

Carver stopped walked as he reached the front of his group. There was still a sizeable gap of several meters between CRU and The Experiments, so Carver beckoned Phoenix forward. For a second Phoenix didn't move, until she made up her mind and approached Carver.

Carver smiled, and moved his hand like he was about to stroke the side of her face, before his smile faded and he grabbed her throat. "Sarcasm works well for you, but I have to draw the line at disobedience," he snarled, lifting her off the ground by her throat.

With a yell, Carver flung Phoenix across the room. She hit the ground hard, landing on her side about five feet away from both groups. There were several drawn out seconds of suspense before Phoenix lifted her head, her hair falling in front of her face, and blood dripping from a cut above her eyebrow.

"I hate having to do this little bird," Carver gave a false apology as he cracked his knuckles. "But you know that disobedience must be punished."

He took a step towards Phoenix, but didn't get far. A cry of anger erupted from Carver's right, and a shape charged at him, moving at impossibly fast speeds. He felt a hit to the face before he even had a chance to process it. As Carver stumbled backwards, he saw that the shape had stopped moving, and in front of him, stood the 18 year old kid with black hair.

Carver slowly turned his head to Phoenix, who was staring at what was in front of her with wide eyes. Turning back to the group of teenagers in front of him, Carver's face broke into a grin. "Sneaky bastard," he muttered. "I guess the Doc didn't have just Phoenix after all. I always suspected that there were more, but I would've never guessed that there was six altogether."

Phoenix pulled herself to her feet and clenched her fists. "Take note Carver, you're going up against seven people with abilities," she challenged him. "Trust me, pyrokinesis isn't the only trick we have up our sleeves. Back off now, before you regret it."

Carver laughed once again, raising his hand for everyone to see. "I think this evens out the playing field," he stated. As he spoke, his entire arm glowed a bright red orange colour, outlining the tissues, blood vessels and nerves inside of his arm.

"EXTREMIS," Phoenix breathed. "How did you get your hands on it?"

"Questions for another day little bird," Carver dismissed her question as he gestured for his team to prepare themselves. "Seven against seven. I don't know about you, but I'm interested to see how this turns out."

"Sorry to disappoint, but we're not staying around to find out," Phoenix responded, creating a fireball in her right hand as she nodded to her team. "BREAK!"

The Experiments scattered. Mark and Josh teamed up to cause chaos, Mark running to and from each corner in the hangar, and Josh moving around CRU, appearing and disappearing at the most random moments. Amidst this chaos, Heather and Bella ran around CRU, Bella shrouding herself and Heather in a dark mist that made it impossible to see exactly where they were.

Wanda ran to Phoenix's side, red energy surrounding her hands, while Phoenix's own hands were covered in fire. They were about to strike with a double attack, when Sam, left exactly where he was standing when Phoenix called out, rose his hands.

The second Mark and Josh cleared the area around CRU, Sam brought his hands down hard, slamming his fists into the ground. From underneath his fists, streaks of pure electric energy rushed across the floor, heading straight for CRU. The force of the electric shock knocked all seven of them onto their backs.

Carver rolled backwards before kicking himself up off the ground and into a standing position. His eyes glowed a bright orange as his face did the same, the EXTREMIS virus reacting to his rage. "Take out everyone but Phoenix!" He shouted the order to his team.

Bella, Mark, Josh and Heather who had made it to the other side of the hangar, took off running as Sara raised her shotgun and began firing. Journey and Leda took off after them also, their fast speed allowing them to close some of the distance between the fleeing Experiments.

Raoul ducked past Sam's attempts to electrocute him and tackled him around the stomach, throwing him to the ground where he pressed a knee into his back and held him down. Owen thundered towards Phoenix and Wanda, who had split apart. Seeing them break away from each other, Owen directed his attention towards Wanda, and grabbed her arms.

Before he had a chance to do anything, Phoenix ran at him from behind and pulled his legs out from under him. As he tried scrambling to his feet, Wanda moved her hands sharply, the red energy firing from her hands and knocking him to the other side of the room.

Carver came up from behind Phoenix, grabbing her arms and wrapping them behind her back. "Remember little bird, I know all your tricks," he hissed in her ear. "Are you forgetting who trained you? I taught you everything you know."

Phoenix pulled herself from his grip and turned to face him. Pulling his right arm downwards, Phoenix swung herself onto his back and wrapped her legs around his neck. She used her weight to throw Carver forward, knocking him to the floor, while she landed cleanly on her feet. "Courtesy of Natasha Romanoff," Phoenix spat.

The four Experiments who had ran back towards the door they had entered from, were halfway up the metal staircase that led to their freedom, before the door was flung open and another individual entered the fight. He carried a sniper rifle, and he wore all back combat gear with goggles and a mouth cover. From what could be seen, he appeared to have pale skin and shoulder length brown hair.

The newcomer readied his sniper rifle, The Experiments backing away in fear as he loaded the magazine. The stranger aimed, and fired at Journey. The stranger then turned to The Experiments and nodded to the door he had just emerged from.

With that, the stranger swung himself over the edge of the staircase, sniper rifle in hand as he landed on his feet on the floor of the aircraft hangar. Sam, seeing that CRU were distracted, rolled Raoul off his back and threw his arms up towards the ceiling.

Bolts of lightning came down from the ceiling, striking everywhere. The entire hangar echoed with the sounds of thunder as the lightning cracked from all around them. Phoenix, seeing their opening, grabbed Wanda's hand and ran towards the door at the other end of the hangar that signalled their escape.

Sam followed after the girls, trying to direct the lightning at the various members of CRU, but he was slowly losing control of the electrical storm he had created. Strikes of lighting were getting closer to the metal staircase upon which Bella, Mark, Josh and Heather stood.

The stranger carrying the sniper rifle, alternated between firing at CRU and avoiding the lightning. He spotted Phoenix, Wanda and Sam making a break for the exit, and attempted to clear a path between them and CRU, but a lighting strike came too close to his left side. He was thrown to the side, and Phoenix lost sight of him.

"SAM! STOP THE STORM!" Phoenix shouted an order as Heather was forced to duck because of the lightning strike that hit the spot just above her head, the electric storm drawing itself closer to the metal staircase.

Sam obeyed and raised his hands, calming the lightning. As it died down, CRU managed to find their bearings and Carver shouted an order to his team, "GAS THEM!"

Hearing Carver's shouting, Phoenix, Wanda and Sam covered their mouths as canisters were thrown in front of them, a white gas spilling out and surrounding them. Covering their mouths did nothing as the group found themselves growing dizzy, their pace slowing.

They made it to the staircase, the gas having surrounded them completely, now blocking most of their vision at eye-level. Wanda made it to the staircase first, then Sam, and finally Phoenix. Rapidly losing consciousness, Phoenix grabbed the railings.

She didn't make it in enough time, and fell backwards before she could take a step onto the staircase. Her last moment of consciousness before the gas knocked her out, was the feeling of being grabbed from behind.


	12. The Stranger

**A/N: I'm so sorry about the cliffhanger on the last chapter, I just couldn't help myself. Don't worry, I'm not going to leave you hanging any longer. You find out what happens to Phoenix in this chapter, I promise. In other news, my exams start in two days but I'm still going to try my best to make sure I have a new chapter for you next saturday. Also a certain someone appears in this chapter. Can you guess who the stranger is? Now that is all, as always, don't forget to read, review and enjoy.**

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Heather slammed the door of their hotel room shut as The Experiments walked inside. Once they were confined to a private environment, all hell broke loose. Mark immediately darted all over the room searching for what he wanted, while Sam punched the wall and Bella reached the point of hysteria.

"What are we going to do?" Bella questioned frantically.

Mark found what he was looking for and opened Phoenix's laptop, but he wasn't able to guess the password, leading him to attempt to tear out his own hair in frustration. Sam saw what he was doing and tried to snatch the laptop away, but Mark moved it out of his reach and snarled.

"Nobody asked you," Mark snapped.

"Give it here," Sam demanded. "I can access her computer. That's what you want right?"

"Not from you," Mark snarled, slamming Phoenix's laptop shut and placing it to the side. "I'm not a baby, I can hack a computer."

Sam reached once again for the computer but was unable to grab it as Mark moved it from his reach. "Acting like a brat isn't going to help get Phoenix back."

"I never wanted any help from a self-centred jerk anyway," Mark fumed. "I can rescue Phoenix on my own."

"Oh well look at you marking your territory," Sam jabbed. "Trust me buddy, you do not have any right to talk yourself up after you nearly cost us our asses. Phoenix got captured trying to protect us after your dick move, and now CRU knows about our abilities. This is your fault."

"My fault!" Mark exclaimed in outrage. "Your little electrical storm is the reason that CRU threw the knockout gas! If anything, this is all your fault!"

Mark shoved him, causing Sam's anger to increase. Sam rolled up his sleeves, and before Heather was able to hold him back, he landed a punch directly to Mark's jaw, throwing him to his knees. Heather managed to place her arm on his shoulders and pull him back as he attempted to take another step forward.

"We've all seen how you act around Phoenix," Sam hissed, shaming Mark by pointing a finger at him. "You're pathetic. She doesn't deserve you, and you know it. Now, because of you, she's probably being tortured. I hope you can live with that!"

Mark screamed loudly as he shot to his feet and lunged at Sam. He started throwing punches at him, but he was pulled off by Josh. Mark and Sam continued to punch and kick at each other, fighting against the grips of those holding them back. Everyone in the room was shouting over the top of one another, Mark and Sam screamed at each other, while the others cried for the boys to stop.

Mark managed to shake Josh off him and surged at Sam with a howl and began landing blow after blow to his face. "You! Have! No! Right! To talk! About Phoenix! Like that!" Mark screamed, his sentence coming out in fragments.

They only broke apart, when Wanda lifted up her hands and used telekinesis to pull them away from each other, flinging Mark to one side of the room, and Sam to the other. This gave the other Experiments enough time to put themselves between Mark and Sam, stopping another attack.

"I thought you were a team!" Wanda cried. "Without Phoenix, you're not The Experiments, you're just a group of unstable teenagers. You can't even function properly without her."

Sam spat blood out of his mouth and pulled himself from Heather's grip, storming over to the bed in the far left corner of the room. "Phoenix plans everything and organises our missions. Hell, she basically does everything," Sam explained as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "With Phoenix gone, we don't have a leader to keep us in line."

"Surely you have a chain of command?" Wanda questioned. "Is there a second-in-command? Someone Phoenix trusted to take charge of the team if she couldn't."

"Yeah," Mark spoke up, shooting Sam a dirty look as he shrugged off Josh and stormed over to the wall. "Heather."

All eyes turned to Heather who raised her arms in confusion and gave them a sheepish look. "I don't know what to do," she spoke, on the verge of tears. "Phoenix is the one in charge. She's our leader, she's the only one in our team that's capable of taking charge. I can't do it."

"You have to," Bella reassured her, placing a hand on her shoulder. Bella was crying as well, but furiously wiped away the tears. "Phoenix made you the second-in-command for a reason. We have to figure out what to do next."

Heather listened to her words and nodded, gathering The Experiments and Wanda into a group. "Phoenix always listens to our ideas when she comes up with a plan, so…" Heather gestured to the group. "Does anyone have any suggestions?"

"No but I have a question," Sam raised his hand, catching everyone's attention. "What do we tell Barton and Romanoff?"

The room went silent as everyone processed the question. They hadn't given any thought to Phoenix's adopted parents until Sam raised the question. What could they tell them? They all knew how much Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton cared about Phoenix. Learning that she had been captured, could lead to disaster.

"We should tell them," Bella advised. "We can't keep it from them, it's not right."

"But if we tell them, they'll both come straight over here," Josh argued. "Which would be catastrophic considering that Phoenix is the perfect leverage for Black Widow and Hawkeye. CRU could get them to do anything in return for Phoenix's life."

"It's up to you, Boss," Mark turned to Heather, speaking the last word of his sentence in a mocking tone and with a sneer on his face.

Heather thought to herself for a minute, considering the ramifications of both options. Eventually, she came to a decision, deciding to ignore her conscience and go with the safer, but more morally damaging option.

"We can't tell them," Heather decided. "Josh is right. It's safer for Natasha and Clint to believe that everything's ok. Besides, if we tell them, they could bring along the Avengers. There's no way we'd be able to hide from the eyes of the media if the Avengers got involved. The world isn't ready to know who we are."

"I assume that means you plan to rescue Phoenix back?" Wanda questioned.

"No," Heather answered, a grin forming on her face as her ideas finally fell into place. "We're going to do what we do best as a team. We're going to wait for Phoenix. She's broken out of more secure compounds than I can count. She'll make her way back to us eventually."

"Are you insane?" Bella demanded. "We're not leaving Phoenix to the mercy of CRU. They know everything about her weaknesses. They're probably the only other people in this world that know what Doctor Blake did to her, and they'll use that to torture her."

"No they won't," Heather shook her head. "They know better than to torture Phoenix. Carver wants her for her powers, and by torturing her, he could compromise the integrity of her abilities. I don't think he would be willing to risk that. Phoenix said that Carver is driven by an obsession with power, that should be enough to keep Phoenix safe long enough for her to escape."

"So we're just going to wait around and do nothing? We can't just sit around in Tokyo waiting for something to happen," Mark argued.

"We aren't, we're going to wait for Dr Redfern to get back to us about our research," Heather explained, her grin widening as she further formulated her plan. "If Phoenix hasn't found her way back to us by then, we'll go after her. But for now, we play the waiting game."

"I don't like it," Sam voiced his concern. "I still don't think we can trust Dr Redfern after she drew a gun on Phoenix. Besides, this isn't exactly the best plan we've ever come up with."

"Well at least it's not the worst plan we've ever come up with," Josh offered.

"You're actually agreeing with this?" Bella demanded, angrily gesturing to Heather while she glared at Josh. "If we do nothing then we might as well be throwing Phoenix to the wolves."

"I never said I agreed, I was just saying in comparison to some of our other plans that we've come up with in the past, it's not the most terrible idea," Josh clarified, shrugging nonchalantly. "I don't have an opinion to give. Phoenix made Heather the second in command, so it all comes down to her decision."

Every eye in the roome turned to look at Heather, anxiously awaiting a final answer. She nodded confidently. "We wait," she decided, instantly regretting her decision the second the words left her mouth.

* * *

As Phoenix regained consciousness, she felt a jarring pain in the back of her head. Remembering what had just occurred before she had been knocked out, Phoenix remained still with her eyes shut, pretending to be unconscious. With her eyes closed, Phoenix relied on her other senses to examine her surroundings.

The room was deathly quiet, but traffic could be heard very distantly to her right, the sound muffled by what Phoenix guessed was a wall. Inside whatever room she was in, Phoenix heard the quiet breathing of another person, sitting somewhere in front of her and on her left side. The room smelt of musk, and bland cleaning chemicals. Phoenix recognised the scent, she was in a hotel room.

As she clenched her fist, Phoenix felt something hard and metal wrapped around her wrist. There was a set of handcuffs tying her right hand to something behind her, most likely the backboard of the bed she was lying on. So instead, Phoenix readied her left hand, clenching her fist tightly, and focused on the breathing of the only other person in the room.

Sitting bolt upright, Phoenix's eyes flew open as she tossed a fireball at the person at the end of her bed. They ducked, and rolled to the right, narrowly avoiding the flames. Igniting her entire hand in fire, Phoenix held up her hand threateningly as her kidnapper rose to their feet.

"Come any closer and I'll kill you!" Phoenix threatened, pushing herself up against the backboard of the bed as she aimed her fire-lit arm at her kidnapper. Her first guess was that it was a member of CRU, but as she examined them properly, she realised that it was someone else entirely.

He glared at her through dark brown eyes, his long, messy, brown hair falling in front of his face. His skin was a sickening pale colour and his patchy stubble showed that he wasn't shaving correctly. There wasn't any colour in his cheeks, but there was a dark colour in the bags under his eyes. He looked ill, but Phoenix couldn't be sure whether it was a physical illness, or a mental illness.

"You're the sniper that tried to save us from CRU," Phoenix whispered to herself in realisation.

Her eyes moved down from his face, and as she looked at his attire, she examined him carefully. He wore torn jeans, a dirty t-shirt and a jacket that was too big for him around his arms, but seemed to be a perfect fit for his broad shoulders. Her eyes flicked down to his right hand, where she could see his fingers poking out of the jacket sleeves. Silver fingers that reflected light.

As she recognised the metal arm, Phoenix tensed, and threw another fireball his way. Like before, he dodged it by ducking incredibly fast. "I saw you at the Hydra base in Cleveland!" Phoenix shouted an accusation. "You've been following us. Why?"

The man stepped closer to her. "I'm not answering your questions," he spoke. His accent was primarily American, with the slightest hint of another secondary accent, a lilt in his voice from whatever his second language was. "You're here to answer my questions."

"That's not happening," Phoenix responded, setting her arm on fire once again.

Phoenix attempted to pull herself from the handcuffs but was unable to since they were far too tight on her wrist. Growing angrier by the second, Phoenix pointed her hand at the man, making it clear that he wouldn't be able to avoid her next fireball.

"Let me out of these handcuffs," Phoenix demanded. "We both know that I'm getting out of the handcuffs either way, but if you let me go, I'll be less inclined to burn you to ashes."

"You'll kill me either way," the man stated, placing a hand into his pocket as he spoke. He drew out a gun, and with one hand, casually pointed it at Phoenix. "I won't shoot you, as long as you don't set me on fire. I just need answers ok?"

"No," Phoenix spat, tensing her arm. "I'm not giving you anything."

"Just listen to me," the man requested, his hand trembling. His breathing was starting to become erratic, and he shook his head and placed his free hand against his temple. He looked like he was biting back pain.

"Let me go!" Phoenix demanded, still refusing to comply with the man's requests.

"LISTEN TO ME!" He screamed at her, his cracked voice echoing around the small motel room. Phoenix didn't even flinch, she just stared at the man with an unreadable expression on her face. His brief moment of rage vanished, leaving him to stare at Phoenix numbly.

Fed up with the current line of conversation, the man threw down his gun and stormed over to Phoenix. Grabbing her handcuffed wrist, he pulled a key from his pocket which he then inserted into the small lock on the handcuffs. With a click, the cuffs fell off and Phoenix was free.

The fire around her arm dissipated and she focused on rubbing her wrist as the man took a step back and waited for her to speak. "What's wrong with you?" Phoenix asked, breaking the silence with a hesitant question.

The man didn't answer, he simply sat on the edge of the bed with his hands clasped together. "That Hydra team was after you. Why?" He questioned.

"Did you miss the fact that I set my own arm on fire?" Phoenix commented sarcastically as she threw the handcuffs across the room. "I thought that fact was obvious, they want my abilities. Now here's a better question; why aren't you surprised that I'm a pyrokinetic."

"I've seen you in action before," he responded.

"Yeah, when you shot at me and my team," Phoenix's tone grew angrier as she was reminded of the incident at the Hydra Base in Cleveland. "I caught a glimpse of you when I shot that fireball. I'd recognise the metal arm anywhere, it's hard to miss."

"I wasn't shooting at you, I was shooting at the Hydra soldiers," the man told her, turning his head so he could look at her. "I was about to take down the base before you showed up. The base in Cleveland was the second-last Hydra Base in operation."

"And let me guess," Phoenix rose to her feet and folded her arms. "The last Hydra Base is the one in LA. CRU's Headquarters. That's why you kidnapped me, so we could work together. To be honest, you seem more like the type of person who works on their own."

"I figured since we have a common enemy, we might as join our efforts."

Phoenix stared at the man for a long time. Eventually she scoffed. "Do you expect me to trust you?" She questioned. "Because I sure as hell don't."

"I just saved you from that group of Hydra agents," he stated, like it was a valid reason for her to trust him. He stared her in the eye as he slowly got to his feet. "I'm not trying to hurt you, the only thing I want, is to stop Hydra. And you can help me do that."

"How could you possibly know that I can help you? You don't know anything about me?" Phoenix questioned, glaring at the stranger as she folded her arms tighter.

"I know more than you think," he responded, looking down as he examined her up and down. "You were previously under the control of a Hydra scientist before being rescued by the Avengers. You're now the adopted daughter of Hawkeye and Black Widow."

Phoenix went rigid and stared at the stranger with a clenched jaw. "Where do you get your information?" Phoenix demanded, taking a small step backwards.

"I was barely able to find any information on you at all. The only things I know about you are born from rumours," he answered, his voice lowering in pitch. "As far as legal documentation is concerned, you've only existed for a year. All I could find was an adoption certificate, your school record and the document of your legal citizenship. You don't even have a birth certificate."

"I don't exist for a reason," Phoenix snapped. "So people like you can't kidnap me."

His metal arm reached out and grabbed her upper arm, wrapping tightly around her skin. The cold, hard feel of the metal caused Phoenix to jump as he touched her. He stared at her for a long time, giving Phoenix a better view of his sickly appearance.

"I can help you stop CRU," he offered. "And in return, you can help me take down the last major Hydra base in the Americas. Do we have a deal?"

Phoenix hesitated, and glared at him before she spoke. "I still don't trust you," she made her opinion known, stating her viewpoint through clenched teeth. "But I'll work with you, on one condition." Phoenix prised his arm off, and shoved it away. "Don't touch me."

The stranger seemed surprised that Phoenix had managed to pull apart his grip, and nodded to her, a signal that he accepted her condition. An awkward silence hung in the room as Phoenix moved to the bed and sat down, rubbing her arm.

"So what am I meant to call you?" Phoenix enquired after a second of silence, looking up at the stranger.

"Don't call me anything," he replied, turning his back on her to face the window.

After coming to an agreement, Phoenix was finally able to take her eyes off him and examine her surroundings. Immediately, she glanced out the window, and saw that it was light outside. Rising to her feet, Phoenix walked past the stranger and pulled back the curtains, looking down into the sun lit streets of Tokyo.

"How long was I unconscious for?" Phoenix demanded, whipping her head around to the stranger.

"The anaesthesia that was in those aerosol smoke bombs knocked you out pretty good," the stranger explained. "You woke up at midnight, but you were completely delirious. I had to sedate you to stop you from strangling yourself."

Phoenix raised a hand to her neck. "I tried to strangle myself?" she questioned in a quiet voice.

"At first," the stranger answered. "When I tried to pull your hands away from your neck, you became hysterical and started screaming. I had to let go of you while I prepped the sedative, but while I did, you bashed your own head against the wall."

Phoenix cleared her throat, avoiding the stranger's eyes. "That makes sense. Some sedatives have a tendency to mess with my head," Phoenix explained. "What'd you knock me out with?"

"I gave you Lorazepam to calm you down," he replied. "You knocked _yourself_ out by bashing your head against the wall."

"Well that explains why my head hurts," Phoenix commented, in an attempt to avoid dramatizing in the situation.

The last thing Phoenix wanted was invasive questions from her nameless ally. Luckily, he was the silent type, and didn't continue the line of conversation. Instead, he turned away from her and went about doing his own thing. Phoenix watched cautiously out of the corner of her eye, examining his behaviours closely.

While he had his back turned, Phoenix's eyes glanced over a stack of papers on the bedside table. She calmly moved towards them, and looked down to see that they were mostly photographs. As she picked them up to look them over, Phoenix recognised her own face multiple times.

She came across a photograph taken five months earlier, of her and Steve walking together in Brooklyn. Phoenix had travelled to New York for a weekend, and while she was there, Steve offered to give her a tour of his old neighbourhood. Immediately, Phoenix noticed that a red circle had been drawn around her own head, with the words _WHO IS SHE?_ written next to it in a messy scrawl.

Hearing footsteps, Phoenix looked up to see the stranger standing several feet away from her holding a glass of water. He saw her holding the photograph and clenched his jaw. Phoenix looked down at it once more before she placed it to the side.

"You're a fan of Captain America," Phoenix stated, using one hand to glimpse at the other photographs.

The stranger refused to acknowledge her statement, and handed her the glass of water. Phoenix took the water and sipped at it while she picked up another photograph. The photograph was of Phoenix, Natasha and Clint walking together in Central Park.

The photograph was obviously taken from a distance with a long lens. It showed Clint laughing and Natasha smirking as Phoenix walked backwards so she could face both of them. She'd clearly said something amusing, but she couldn't remember what it was.

The next photograph was a captured image of Phoenix and Bella, standing together outside their high school in Charlotte. Phoenix was leaning against the wall, and Bella was staring at the front gates impatiently. Phoenix remembered that incident, the two of them had waited at the front gates for Mark to get out of detention.

Holding up the photograph and putting down her glass, Phoenix glared at the stranger. "You've been following me and my team?" She demanded, outraged.

"No, just you," the stranger answered. "You just happen to spend a lot of time with your team."

Phoenix's outrage faded to concern as she sat on the edge of the bed and picked up the glass of water once again. "Do you know what happened to them? My team?" Phoenix asked as she drank.

"No," he replied. "I didn't wait around to see what happened to them. As far as I understand, they made it out."

Phoenix rose to her feet, and placed the now empty glass to the side. "I have to find them."

The stranger placed a hand in front of her; remembering her earlier request, he kept several inches away from touching her. "You don't want to do that," he warned. "CRU don't know where we are, but they probably know where your friends are. If you go after then, you could walk right into their trap."

"I don't care what CRU do to me, I need to make sure my team is safe," Phoenix snapped, trying to step past him.

He continued to move from side to side so he was in her way every time she tried to move past him. "You should care," he stated. "For now, your team is safe as long as you stay with me. Judging by the fact that their leader is hell-bent on finding you, CRU aren't going to go after your team. All their efforts will be focused on hunting you down. If you re-join them, you'll put them at greater risk."

Phoenix yielded, and paused before she took a step backwards and folded her arms. "So do you have a plan to stop CRU?" Phoenix questioned.

"We can't come up with a plan until we gather all of our information," he responded. "If you tell me what you know about CRU, then I'll tell you what information I've gathered on them. After that, we take down CRU and you can re-join your team. Can you handle that?"

"I think you'll find that I can handle anything," Phoenix retorted.


	13. The Obsession

**A/N: Firstly, I would like to issue a formal apology. It's been probably about a month since I last updated and I could tell you why I vanished for a month but life just kind of got crazy. I'm back now, and hopefully should be returning to the chapter every saturday schedule. To make up for my lack of updating I may also drop random chapters here and there in an effort to get back on schedule. Anyway, Phoenix is back and she has teamed up with the mysterious stranger. Let me know what you think of this chapter, we start off with a perspective from Carver where you learn more about why he wants to capture Phoenix. Also a surpise appearence from an Agents of SHIELD character, read the chapter to find out. Don't forget to read, review and enjoy.**

* * *

Carver angrily threw the wooden chair, his fellow team members didn't even flinch as it hit the wall and broke into pieces. They watched as Carver continued to pace up and down, once again escaping onto a rant about how they had failed their mission.

The building they had acquired had no form of lighting, but it was the best thing they could find in Tokyo on such short notice. It didn't bother the team either way, they were used to rough living. In the cold and dark room, CRU were seated around a large mahogany table, and at the head of the table, there was an empty space where the chair that Carver had thrown was meant to sit.

Raoul interrupted Carver's yelling to hold up the mobile phone that had been vibrating on and off for most of the day. "It's Ward again, I'm fairly certain that he wants an update," Raoul informed him. "You know it's impolite to ignore calls from the boss. "

"That idiot isn't my boss," Carver snapped. "He's just a kid caught up in revenge."

"He's the new leader of Hydra and therefore our boss," Sara stated in her thick Ukrainian accent. "I agree that he is stupid, but he's the only one willing to take charge of the organisation. We are in ruins, we need as much assistance as possible."

Carver reached across the table and snatched the phone from Raoul's hand, he accepted the call and turned the phone to speaker before he placed it in the centre of the table. "I hope this is important to justify you calling me about twenty times," he addressed the man on the other end of the phone.

CRU heard Grant Ward's crackling chuckle through the phone before he spoke. "I hope you have a justification as to why you ignored my twenty calls," Ward gave a snarky retort. "You told me this personal mission would take two days at the most, it's been 4 days, and I'm still missing Hydra's only tactical team."

"We ran into complications," Carver responded, the fury evident in his expression.

"You're hunting a sixteen year old girl, what complications could you have possible encountered?" Ward demanded, his tone growing irritated.

"Don't you remember what I told you about Phoenix?" Carver questioned. "She might take the appearance of a teenager but she is so much more than that. Besides, she's not alone. She has an entire team with her. It turns out that Doctor Blake didn't just create one superpowered child, there are five others, each of them with different abilities."

Ward went quiet on the other side of the line. "So now they are six teenagers running around with powers?" he finally spoke, his voice harder than stone.

"Yes, and they're not working alone, they have an Avenger with them," Carver added as he gripped the edges of the desk. "It's the Maximoff girl that Strucker was experimenting on. She's working with Phoenix and the other five."

There was a bang on the other end of the phone, sounding like Ward had smacked his hand against a flat surface. "Get out of there now," Ward ordered, his voice harsh. "We do not have the power to go against the Avengers, it will be a massacre. I told you, we're focusing our attention on rebuilding the organisation. We need new recruits, we need manpower. We can't focus our attention on one girl."

"With Phoenix on our side we'll have all the manpower we need," Carver argued. "I know exactly what to do in order to force her into submission. Doctor Blake showed me everything he did to control Phoenix. If I can restore Phoenix, then we will have control of the most powerful weapon in the world."

They heard Ward sigh in irritation. "If you can get in and grab her without drawing attention from the Avengers, then I'll allow it," Ward gave his final answer.

Carver knew that wouldn't be possible, considering that Phoenix had coined the surname of The Black Widow. But he had to get her back, he had to restore her to true perfection once again. So he lied to Ward, and agreed that the Avengers would have no idea, before he hung up.

The other members of CRU were watching him with unamused expressions, knowing full well that he had lied. "Phoenix claimed that she was the newly adopted daughter of Hawkeye and the Black Widow," Sara reminded him. "If that's true, then that means the Avengers will come after us with everything they have."

"Hawkeye and the Black Widow aren't going to cause problems," Carver responded. "Doctor Blake managed to make Phoenix forget her birth parents. If we get Phoenix back, I can do the same thing for her so called adopted parents."

Carver scowled at the thought, pulling a photograph from his pocket, Carver stared at the picture of five year old Phoenix. "Do you remember how she used to be?" Carver asked no one, his voice distant. "She was beautiful, she still is, but…they've destroyed my little bird."

Carver folded the picture and placed it back into his pocket, slamming his fist onto the desk. "SHE WAS MEANT TO BE MINE!" he shouted unexpectedly. "The Doctor was meant to use her to blow a hole in SHIELD, and then he was going to give her to me. But no, instead he gets himself killed and The Avengers come along and shatter her."

His voice lowered to a quiet tone. "She was always so obedient," he mused. "She would hang onto my every word, and conduct every command to perfection. Everything she did was done to perfection. _She_ was perfection. I have to make her perfect again, I have to make her mine."

"It'll take work Carver," Raoul stated. "She's completely the opposite of what she used to be."

"Don't worry, I'm not giving up until I get her back," Carver reassured him. "The Avengers tried to _fix_ her, and in the process, they've broken her. After I get Phoenix back, we'll have to show The Avengers real beauty. We'll have our revenge on the so called superheroes. I'll have them killed by Phoenix, that'll show them."

Journey laughed excitedly and leaned forward in her chair. "So devious Carver, I love it. But to pull it off we'll need to pull out the big guns. Which method do we use on Phoenix first?" Journey asked. "Electrocution? The White Room? Hallucinogenics?"

"I was thinking we should start with the Doctor's most effective method," Carver responded with a grin. "The Whisper Room."

The members of CRU grew excited at the thought, moving around eagerly in their chairs. "What about the trigger words?" Owen asked, rubbing his hands together. "Do you think they still work?"

"Oh I'm sure they do," Carver chuckled.

"What about Project Achilles?" Jasper asked breathlessly. "Do you think she can still access it?"

The room went quite, before the eager murmurs started up once more. Carver raised both hands to quieten them down before he answered Jasper's question. "I have no doubt that Project Achilles is still there, and that Phoenix can retrieve it for us," Carver answered. "It's power can never be undone."

* * *

Phoenix had spent the last 24 hours watching the stranger, and she found herself growing more irritated by the hour. He didn't have much of a personality, and his behaviours were practically robotic. At one point, Phoenix was nearly convinced that he was a cyborg, and his metal arm was the only part of him that showed his true nature.

Phoenix had spent enough time around Clint and Natasha to be able to identify an expert assassin. The stranger was extremely intelligent, and spoke like everything was a mission. He used words that Phoenix had often heard Natasha and Clint using constantly. That, combined with his secretive behaviour, gave an indication that he was also an expert spy.

After exchanging their information with each other, Phoenix was able to discover that the stranger knew more than he was willing to share. In turn, Phoenix only offered him minimal information. She told him that CRU were after her abilities, but gave no extra information past that. As far as the stranger knew, they didn't have any connection to Phoenix other than that.

The day after Phoenix had decided to work with the stranger, she had managed to grudgingly accept their truce. However, when the opportunity presented itself, Phoenix would attempt to gleam more information about who he was. Wise to her tricks, the stranger remained silent for most of the time.

As Phoenix jotted down information into a notebook, she noticed the stranger pulling up his sleeve to examine his metal arm. He held it out in front of him, and slowly clenched and unclenched his fists, obviously testing it to ensure that it was in working condition.

As Phoenix saw the red star on the shoulder of his arm, she tensed. "The communist star," Phoenix observed. "You're a KGB agent."

"No," the stranger responded. "I don't work for anyone."

"But you used to," Phoenix argued. "No master assassin paints a red star on their arm for any other reason. That explains why there's a strange undertone in your voice, Russian is your second language. I'm guessing you were trained by the KGB, and they're the ones who gave you that arm."

The stranger gave no response to her accusation, and rolled his sleeves back down before he turned his back on her. Phoenix looked past him to see what he was holding in his hands, and spotted a blurry photograph of Captain America in action, alongside the Falcon. He realised Phoenix was watching and placed the photograph back down.

"You look familiar," Phoenix stated as he began walking towards the bathroom. "And not just because I've seen you following me around before."

The stranger stopped, but didn't look at her. "Why are you so determined to learn who I am?" he demanded.

"When I work with someone, I like to at least know their name," Phoenix replied. "And you haven't given me a lot of reasons to trust you."

"You can trust that we have a common enemy."

Phoenix scoffed. "And when we take down CRU will I still be able to trust you?"

"What reason do I have to kill you?"

"What reason do you have to keep me alive?"

The stranger ignored her question and approached her silently to look over her shoulder at the notes she had collected on CRU. "We have enough information on the members of the group," he informed her. "What we need, is information on the base where they're located."

"They're not at the base," Phoenix told him. "They're still here in Japan. They won't leave the country until I do."

"Then we should go to LA now, and attack the base while they're not there," the stranger suggested.

"Aren't you listening to me? The second I leave the country, CRU will follow me," Phoenix reminded him. "If you want to take down the base when CRU's not there, go to LA now and leave me here. They won't follow you, and you can be in and out without any resistance."

"No," the stranger dismissed her idea immediately. "That won't work."

Phoenix made a noise of disbelief in the back of her throat. "What makes you think it won't work? It's a sound plan."

Once again, the stranger didn't answer her question. However his stoic expression broke for a fraction of a second. He looked at the photograph of Captain America as if he was guilty. He continued to stare at the photo with a pained expression, before something brought him back to the present.

"Why are you so important to them," he asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Phoenix shook her head, confused by the question.

"Iron Man is sending you money. Black Widow and Hawkeye adopted you. You're working with a New Avenger right now, and St…." The stranger trailed off, stopping himself hallway through his words before he cleared his throat and made another attempt. "And Captain America is taking you on day trips around Brooklyn. The Avengers care about you. Why?"

Phoenix didn't have an answer. She went to say something, but stopped herself. Eventually she gave up trying to find a suitable answer, and sighed. "I don't know why," she answered. "It's probably because they're superheroes, and they're drawn to disaster."

"And you cause disaster?" the stranger inquired.

"You obviously don't know as much about me as you think you do," Phoenix retorted, closing the notebook and placing it to the side. "If you knew anything about my past history then you would already have the answer to your question."

The stranger walked over and picked up the notebook, examining the notes Phoenix had written on CRU. "You know a lot about CRU for someone who only encountered them several days ago," the stranger stated as he flicked through the notes before closing it, and tossing it to the side. "You're lying to me."

Outraged at the stranger's accusation, Phoenix uncrossed her legs and stood up off the bed. "You're omitting information," Phoenix responded with an equal accusation. "You can expect me to tell you everything I know after you refuse to share anything with me. I'm starting to think that this truce is simply your way of using me for your own plan."

The stranger didn't move for several seconds, before he stepped closer to Phoenix and held the notebook in front of her. "Your connection with CRU goes deeper than this," he spoke, his voice low. "I saw you and CRU's leader facing off against each other. He spoke as if you had known each other for years."

Phoenix took a step backwards and kept her jaw clenched shut. Realising that Phoenix wasn't going to give him the answers he wanted, the stranger threw down the journal and stormed over to the door. Grabbing the hotel room key, he pulled open the door.

"I need to show you something" he stated, holding the door open for Phoenix.

Phoenix approached the door and stood next to the stranger. The both of them remained at a crossroads as they waited for the other to walk out of the door first. "Walk in front of me," Phoenix requested. "I'm not leaving my back exposed."

"We'll walk where we can both see each other," the stranger offered. "I'm not leaving my back exposed either."

Phoenix nodded and the two exited at the room at the same time, walking side by side down the hallway. As they walked downstairs and to the lobby together, Phoenix made sure that he was always in her sights, and he in turn, kept a close eye on her.

They stepped onto the busy streets of Tokyo and the stranger moved to place a hand on Phoenix's shoulder before he stopped and let his hand drop. "You need to stay close," the stranger informed her. "It's easy to lose each other in the crowd."

Phoenix clutched the jacket sleeve of his right arm as she nodded in agreement. "Lead the way."

Holding tightly onto the sleeve of the stranger's jacket, Phoenix followed him on the undisclosed path he was taking through the streets of downtown Tokyo. As they walked, Phoenix made sure to examine as much of her surroundings as possible in order to determine her exact location.

"If you're leading me to a secret location then why haven't you blindfolded me?" Phoenix questioned. "I thought you were an expert spy."

"I trust you," he answered, and added onto his sentence quickly before Phoenix could express her surprise at his admittance of trust. "And I never said I was an expert spy."

"You didn't need to say anything, it's obvious just by looking at you," Phoenix stated. "When you spend most of your time around master assassins, they become easy to identify. But there's something that still doesn't make sense, and that's the fact that master assassins don't trust easily. There's no way you trust me after only meeting me yesterday."

The stranger didn't speak until they managed to make it across a pedestrian crossing onto a less crowded street. "I've been tracking your activities for a while now," he spoke as if that was an acceptable answer for Phoenix's question. "I know your history."

Phoenix tensed and pursed her lips, her fingernails digging tighter into the material of the stranger's jacket. "If you know about my history, then your decision to trust me makes even less sense," she commented.

The stranger held out his hand in front of her, signalling for her to stop as they came to a busy intersection. As if he were leading a tactical team, the stranger pointed down an alleyway before he and Phoenix made their way down the dark gap between the buildings.

"I've seen the work you and your team have done over the past year," the stranger informed her as he picked up a rusted crowbar and began working at a door that was bolted shut. As he worked on opening it, he continued speaking, his words coming out in grunts as he strained to prise the door open. "Taking out criminal organisations, operating in the shadows. To me, anyone who works that hard for the benefit of others, is trustworthy."

Phoenix went quiet and cracked her knuckles as she looked down at the puddle of water on the ground, left over from the heavy rain the previous night. "Missions and operations," Phoenix murmured. "I don't do it for the benefit of others. I do it because it's the only thing I can do."

The stranger successfully prised open the door, and it slid open with a loud bang, shaking the walls around it. The door had opened to reveal a dark corridor that stretched inside the building. Phoenix's words seem to have struck a blow for the stranger, who looked down the hallway with emotionless eyes.

"Eventually orders become the only thing in your life that matters," the stranger added, his voice dark and distant.

Surprised, Phoenix looked up at the stranger, recognising the depth in his words. Without saying a word she nodded to him, and waited until he entered the opening, to follow him down the darkened corridor. As Phoenix stepped inside, the stranger heaved the door closed, enclosing them in darkness.

Phoenix held out a hand and a spark of flame erupted in her palms, providing enough light for her and the stranger to be able to see the ground in front of them. "A light switch would be useful right about now," Phoenix commented. "What's down here?"

"A testing ground," the stranger replied. "There should be a staircase up ahead. Do you mind giving us a little more light?"

Phoenix obliged, and flicked her hands outwards. Small orbs of flame moved from her hands, creating a pathway for them down the corridor as they lined the walls on either sides, each one placed two meters apart. Now with ample lighting, Phoenix and the stranger were able to spot a heavy metal door at the end of the corridor.

Seeing the red and black emblem on the door, was enough to cause more tension in Phoenix's muscles. Even despite most of the paint having worn away, Phoenix could still recognise the skull and tentacles of the infamous Hydra symbol.

"I had no idea there was a Hydra base in the centre of Tokyo," Phoenix observed as she and the stranger came to a stop before the door.

"Hydra become easier to track down when you have inside information," he answered.

Phoenix examined the door carefully before she raised her hands and motioned for the stranger to back away. Once he was out of range, Phoenix let loose a jet of burning hot flames upon the thick door. She strained for several minutes, before the flames faded and she dropped her hands.

"The doors are fireproof," Phoenix muttered in annoyance.

"These are blast doors, meant to withstand the force of a close range explosion," the stranger explained as he and approached the keypad imbedded into the centre of the heavy metal door.

Phoenix looked over his shoulder to watch him punch in a six digit code. Once he pressed enter, there was a beep as the light above the keypad flashed green, and the door opened with a hiss. He turned to face Phoenix and address her questioning gaze. "Like I said, the mission is easier when you have inside information."

The heavy door had opened to reveal a staircase that led downwards into further darkness. Immediately, Phoenix spotted a switch on the other side of the door and flicked it on. The staircase ahead of them erupted with light as their path downwards became clearer.

As they began their descent down the staircase, Phoenix kept a close eye on the back of the stranger's head as he walked a metre ahead of her. "You were Hydra weren't you?" Phoenix questioned him as they walked.

"You knew that already," the stranger spoke without hesitation, and didn't even turn his head to look at her as he talked. "You suspected I was Hydra from the beginning."

"After spending ten years with the organisation, Hydra operatives become easy to spot," Phoenix shrugged as she moved to walk beside the stranger. "You've proven that you're not going to kill me. Besides, I'm an ex-Hydra soldier myself, so it would be hypocritical if I killed you."

The stranger didn't respond to Phoenix's comment, and instead gestured to the door in front of them as they came to the end of the staircase. It was another blast door, identical to the one they had opened to access the staircase. Once again, the stranger entered the code and they were permitted to pass through as the door slid open with a hiss.

What stood before them on the other side of the door, was a spacious, dome shaped chamber. Bright lights reflected off the walls, making the room harsh to their eyes. The walls were grey in colour, and as Phoenix approached them, she placed a hand to the wall and felt the cold and thick metal that the structure was made from.

"Reinforced concrete," Phoenix announced. "What could Hydra have possibly been testing here...?"

Phoenix turned her head, and saw the glass panel on the other side of the room, connecting the chamber to a viewing platform. Her sentence trailed away as her vision blurred and memories collided with the present, shattering her focus.

"I know this place," Phoenix breathed. "This is where they tested it."

"Project Achilles," the stranger clarified, watching Phoenix as she processed her surroundings in comparison to her distant memories. "The most destructive weapon since the atomic bomb. Developed by the same man who created you."

Phoenix's dragged her hand down the wall in a jerking motion, her fingernails scratching the concrete as she flinched. "He didn't create me," Phoenix murmured, her voice cracked.

"But he did create a bomb that has the potential to kill millions," the stranger stated, approaching Phoenix slowly as he took one step at a time. "Hydra have been trying to get their hands on the Project for years, but the only people who knew it's location are dead. Except for one person..." The stranger paused, leaving an agonising silence in the air as Phoenix turned around to look him in the eye. "Doctor Blake's Enhanced soldier."

Phoenix felt the room collapse around her, the walls coming closer, suffocating her, crushing her. The lights, they were too bright, burning her vision. A high pitched ringing chimed in her head, so loud she couldn't even hear herself screaming.

 _The room is dark, looking through the glass, Phoenix can see the room engulfed in an explosion. Fire and smoke fill every inch of the chamber. It can't be contained. Nothing can stop it. The power is too much. It's going to kill so many. It can't be controlled._

The stranger could do nothing but watch as Phoenix grabbed her head and sunk to her knees, a long, sustained scream escaping from her mouth. After a minute, the screaming subsided, and Phoenix began to sob loudly as she leaned forward and pressed her head against the ground, wrapping her arms around her head, and locking herself away as she curled her body into a ball.

Unexpectedly, Phoenix stopped sobbing and pulled herself sharply to her feet. Rubbing away the tears on her cheeks, she nodded in an attempt to express that she was back to normal. "I'm fine, it's ok, I'm fine," she muttered, sounding as if she were trying to reassure herself rather than the man standing next to her.

"You're not fine," the stranger argued, reaching out a hand before he pulled back and refrained from touching her. "You're traumatised. I'm sorry, I didn't know that his name was a trigger."

"No, I just - I need," she stuttered, trying to find her bearings. "We're not discussing it, we need to get back to the matter at hand," she spoke firmly, determined to ignore what had just happened. "Project Achilles. You want the location of Project Achilles, and I'm not giving it to you."

"CRU are the ones after Project Achilles, not me," the stranger responded. "I don't care where the weapon is, I only care that it stays out of Hydra's hands. I brought you here to show you that I can be trusted not to betray you. I carried out assassinations to protect the Project from those that were trying to stop Hydra. I know what the weapon can do, and I never want to see it in anyone's hands."

Phoenix traced her eyes from the ground upwards, until she made eye contact with the stranger. Seeing the sincerity in his eyes, she shook her head. "CRU's motivation for capturing me has nothing to do with Project Achilles, or my abilities," Phoenix confessed. "Their leader Carver, has wanted me to join his operation since I was five years old when they first begun training me. My knowledge and capabilities are just an added bonus."

The stranger nodded, and held out his hand, offering a polite gesture to signify their alliance in the form of a handshake. As Phoenix accepted his hand, watching as she shook hands with his metal arm, feeling her skin brush against the cold surface.

"Now we go to work," the stranger announced.


	14. The Results

**A/N: This chapter, focuses entierly on The Experiments as they learn what Redfern was able to discover about their DNA. Phoenix doesn't make an appearence in this chapter, but she will return in the next chapter, as will CRU. However, let's talk about this chapter and the tensions building between The Experiments in the wake of Phoenix going missing. Rather than me telling you, just read the chapter and find out for yourselves, and don't forget to read, review and enjoy.**

* * *

Heather loved photography. This love had developed into a habit of taking constant photographs. She wasn't exactly living the Andy Warhol dream by taking pictures with her iPhone, but Heather was addicted to using the ever-changing magic of filters.

Heather flicked through the photos on her phone with a ghostly smile. To her, they were pieces of her memory, even if they were pointless things like a plate of Chinese food, they all meant something. She was grossly sentimental like that.

She lingered on the photographs of Phoenix.

Heather came across a photo from six months ago that brought an even brighter smile to her face. It was taken when The Experiments had stayed in Manhattan for the week of Christmas. The photo showed the six of them posed in front of the giant Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Centre.

It was Heather's favourite picture. Looking at the picture, you couldn't tell that they were a group of Superhumans. They looked like nothing more than a group of high school friends, posing for a stupid picture. They looked like a normal group of teenagers for the first time in their lives.

The sliding door to their hotel room balcony opened abruptly, causing Heather to jump in surprise. She held her phone close to her chest as she stared up at Wanda. The other girl saw Heather holding her phone protectively and nearly backed away.

However instead, she sat down across from Heather at the small glass table. "Are you alright?" Wanda asked cautiously. "You've been avoiding the rest of your team for most of the day."

Heather sighed and placed her elbow on the table, leaning her head on top of her hand. "I can't stand the amount of hatred radiating off them," Heather confessed. "Josh is ok but…Bella, Sam and Mark haven't said a single word to me since yesterday. Every time they look at me, there's malice in their eyes."

"They don't hate you," Wanda tried reassuring her.

"No. They hate what I've done," Heather corrected her. "They think that I made the wrong decision."

"Do you think you made the wrong decision?" Wanda inquired.

"Yeah," Heather responded, her voice crestfallen. "I don't know what I was thinking. We rely on Phoenix so much, we expect her to do everything. Sometimes I think we forget that she's just a human being. God, CRU could be doing anything to her right now."

"Phoenix is strong, I'm sure she can handle herself. She seems stable enough," Wanda attempted to reassure her.

Heather scoffed. "You don't know anything about Phoenix do you?" Heather criticised darkly.

"I know her history within Hydra," Wanda stated. "Hydra made experiments of us both, and I know firsthand what it feels like to suffer at the hands of men like Doctor Blake."

At the mention of his name, Heather slammed a hand against the table. "You don't even know the half of what she suffered," Heather hissed. "For ten years she was locked in an underground facility and tortured by Doctor Blake, because of that, she is suicidal, self-destructive and has a barrage of metal disorders. Don't compare yourself to her."

Wanda kept her silence as Heather slumped back in her chair. In a fit of anger, Heather kicked the table and knocked a glass to the floor, shattering it to pieces. Wanda flinched at the sound, and her hands moved of their own accord, red energy lifting the shards of glass off the ground and flinging them at the wall opposite to where the girls were sitting.

"You can't control it," Heather whispered in realisation as Wanda clutched her own hands to her chest. "You were given full access to your powers all at once, and you never had time to develop them or learn to control them like we did. Your powers are unstable."

Wanda lowered a trembling hand and avoided Heather's eyes. "It's difficult," Wanda confessed. "Mostly I can contain it, but sometimes, it is a struggle."

Heather shifted in her seat and leaned over the glass table, eyeing Wanda carefully. "We share an ability. Telekinesis, moving objects with our minds. It didn't take me that long to obtain control over it," Heather argued, before she came to a realisation. "But you have more abilities than our entire team combined."

"Telekinesis, neuro-electric interfacing, mental manipulation, psionic energy, telepathy. The list goes on," Wanda explained. "It's too much power for one person to have."

"Telepathy," Heather repeated what Wanda had said in a distant voice as her mind started swimming.

Before she could even begin to ask her any questions, the sliding door was yanked open with a strong force. Josh leaned through the opening, his eyes searching for Heather as he wore a panicked expression on his face. Immediately, seeing his worry, Heater leapt to her feet.

"Sam and Mark," he announced. "They're fighting. Again."

Heather groaned loudly just as the sounds of shouting and banging reached their ears. Heather ran into the hotel room and was faced with a chaotic scene. Mark and Sam were inches apart from each other's faces, the veins in their neck reaching breaking point as they screamed at each other. Bella was trying desperately to pull Mark backwards by tugging on his shoulders, but he continued fighting against her in an attempt to land a punch to Sam's face.

It wasn't hard to guess what they were arguing about.

"YOU DONT CARE ABOUT HER AT ALL!" Mark screeched in accusation. "THEY COULD BE TORTURING HER RIGHT NOW!"

"AND WHO'S FAULT IS THAT?" Sam demanded, shoving Mark backwards and placing a metre of distance between them. Mark pushed back immediately, and closed the gap between them by throwing himself at Sam's, thrashing his arms wildly.

"YOUR FAULT. ITS YOUR FAULT!" Mark howled in answer, becoming increasingly more hysterical, spit flying from his mouth as he screamed.

"NO ITS YOUR FAULT!" Sam thundered.

"STOP!" Heather cried, attempting to force herself between the two boys and push them apart.

Mark fought against both forces pushing him back, he lunged past Heather, almost throwing her backwards as he tried clawing at Sam's face. Bella changed positions, and tried pulling Mark away by grabbing his right arm. Driven by a blind rage, Mark swatted at Bella with his arm, hard.

The strong force of Mark's hit was enough to knock Bella backwards, and her head connected with the side of the end table next to the bed, before she fell to the ground. Their fight came to a standstill, as Sam immediately moved to Bella's side to check that she was alright.

Mark's shock at what he had just done kept him rooted to the spot, allowing Heather the opportunity to put him in an arm lock and press him up against the wall face first.

"This ends now," Heather announced coldly, addressing everyone in the room, in particular Mark. With Mark secured, Heather turned her head to Bella, who was now stirring as Sam helped her to sit up. "Are you ok?"

A deep gash ran down the side of her face, from a space just above her right eyebrow and running down her cheek, stopping just before her ear. Blood was dripping from the wound, but thankfully, it wasn't flowing at an alarming rate. The deep red colour of the blood contrasted harshly against Bella's unmarked porcelain skin.

"I'm fine," Bella responded, fixing Mark and Heather with an acidic glare.

"Sorry Bell," Sam murmured an apology as he inspected the gash on the side of her head. "Things got out of hand."

"It's not your fault," Bella reassured him, squeezing his arm comfortingly while she shot Mark a murderous glare. "You're not the one who stopped caring about everyone else because they're too emotionally invested in their obsession."

Bella's comment struck Mark in a low place and she knew it. Mark turned away from Bella's icy stare and looked down in shame. With blood now starting to drip faster from the gash, Sam hurriedly retrieved the First Aid kit and handed it to Josh, who began meticulously treating Bella's wound.

Satisfied that Mark had cooled down, Heather released him from her arm lock, allowing him to slink away to the bed in the far corner of the room, where he sat quietly with his hands in his lap. The silence was long and heavy as Heather stood in the centre of the room with her arms folded, watching as Josh quietly wrapped a bandage around Bella's head.

The silence shattered as Phoenix's burner phone, sitting on top of the desk in the corner of their room, started ringing loudly. Heather froze for about a second, before she was able to process what was happening and ran for the phone. As she picked it up, she furiously mashed the accept call button.

"Hello?" a woman's voice asked cautiously on the other end of the line. "This is Amanda Redfern, who am I speaking to?"

"This is Heather, I'm one of the Superhumans you met two days ago," Heather informed her, resisting the urge to bite her own tongue in disgust as the word Superhuman left her mouth. At the urging look of her fellow team members, Heather placed the phone on speaker and placed it on the desk in front of her.

"It's imperative that I speak to Phoenix, I have the results from the tests she requested," Redfern announced, her voice harsh and cracked through the mobile phone's speakers.

Heather looked between her team members before sighing loudly. "Phoenix isn't here," Heather decided to come out with the truth rather than coming up with a lie. "She was kidnapped by the group of people that were after us at the military base."

There was a dead silence on the other end of the line before Redfern spoke in a low tone. "You'd better meet me at my apartment. Grab a pen so you can take down the address."

* * *

After inputting Redfern's address into Google Maps, The Experiments were easily able to figure out the best way to get there. However, they were unable to come to a decision on their _method_ of getting there. Since Bella, the only one capable of driving, had a head injury, an argument ensured.

Josh refused to let Bella put her hands anywhere near the car keys for fear of a concussion, despite Bella's best effort to insist that she didn't have a concussion. Bella managed to convince most of the group that she was ok, but Josh refused to give up his ground until Bella walked for twenty meters in a straight line down the hallway outside their hotel room.

Due to this delay, it took them longer than they liked to reach Dr Redfern's apartment, and upon their arrival, Redfern expressed how she felt about their lack of punctuality. "What did you stop for a Starbucks or something?" She demanded as she opened her front door to let them in.

"We ran into a small issue," Bella answered with a snide remark.

Seeing the bandage on her head, Redfern scoffed. "Are you sure, because it looks more like you ran into a wall."

Dr Amanda Redfern's apartment opened onto a hallway that greated them with brown carpet and cream coloured walls. On their left as they walked in was a kitchenette, across from it, a door that looked like it might've led into a small cupboard or a laundry. Further down the hallway, there was an open space living area.

Dr Redfern gathered them around the dinning table in the living area, where an expensive laptop was set up in the centre of the table, looking out of place amidst the simplicity of the apartment. As she loaded something onto her laptop, Redfern cast Wanda a weary glance.

"Do you want your friend here for this?" Redfern questioned. "Phoenix left her outside of the room last time if I remember correctly. And if I'm being honest, I don't trust The Avengers."

Heather looked to her team for support, but Wanda answered the question for her before she even had a chance to hear The Experiments' opinions. "I'll keep watch outside," she offered, before walking out of the apartment and closing the door quietly behind her.

Redfern watched her leave with a wary eye, and the second she heard the door being closed, she turned to the teenagers. "I have results, but…" she trailed off in the middle of speaking and shook her head. "I'm not sure where to start."

"Start from the beginning," Heather instructed. "What are we?"

"To apply a technical term, I think Superhuman is most appropriate term to describe you," Redfern answered. "In some sense of the word, you are humans. But at the same time, parts of your DNA have enough irregularity to suggest otherwise. The amount of mutations in your genes is more than I've ever seen in any other living creature to date."

"Is it dangerous?" Josh asked cautiously. "These mutations, are they going to kill us?"

"No, that's what's remarkable about your genetics," Redfern answered, sounding excited as her hand movements grew more exasperated. "Your DNA and your genes have accepted the mutations and they've become integrated into your chromosomes. All six of you, have evolved as a result of whatever serum you were all injected with."

"That's impossible," Sam shook his head. "Evolution on a massive scale like this doesn't just happen because of a serum. It would take thousands of years of biological processes for humans to reach this level. Doctor Blake couldn't have achieved that in one lifetime."

"You're right, it should be impossible," Redfern agreed. "Which brings me to my next point. I found traces in your DNA of what caused the mutations. At first I thought I couldn't analyse it because it was too strongly integrated into your base pairs, but then I realised, that the traces I found, were traces of chemicals that I've never seen before in my 20 years as a biologist."

The room fell quiet as the Experiments took time to process what Redfern was saying. It hit Sam first, he covered his mouth and turned away from the group, unable to look at any of them. Sam's reaction was enough to stir fear within the others, who frantically looked to Dr Redfern for an explanation.

"Alien," Redfern clarified, her excitement dropping off entirely as she became completely serious and delivered the news in a flat tone. "There are elements of your genetics that are completely foreign to all human knowledge. This means, the information I've compiled on your DNA is limited."

"Alien DNA, we have alien DNA?" Mark demanded.

"Not quite, alien in this sense simply means foreign," Redfern explained. "It doesn't mean that you have the DNA of a creature from another planet, it means we don't know where these aspects of your DNA originated from and we don't know their properties."

"So you have no idea what the serum that did this to us is composed of," Heather simplified.

"You didn't let me finish," Redfern held up a finger, obviously keeping more information up her sleeve. "I was able to identify one chemical composition that played a role in your changes. It's easily recognisable in the biologist community, especially for myself, who has spent the last several years researching superhuman abilities."

Once again, Dr Redfern hesitated, waiting to see whether or not The Experiments could come up with the answer themselves. Josh sighed in exasperation, and waved his hands in an effort to prompt Redfern to speak. "Just tell us already," he demanded.

"The Super Soldier serum," Redfern answered. "The formula that created Captain America. That exact serum is a part of your bodies. Over the years, scientists have tried to recreate the serum, and have come close. But the serum used on you, is an exact replica to the one used originally on Captain America."

"How did the Doctor get his hands on the original formula?" Sam questioned. "I thought all information was lost with Erskine and Captain America himself."

"That's what I thought to, but there have always been rumours that Steve Rogers' blood was kept by the S.S.R," Redfern explained. "Among the scientific community, its always been a bit of an urban legend. I guess it was true after all, and whoever designed your serum somehow got their hands on a vial of Captain America's blood."

"Phoenix always said that the Doctor modelled his serum after the Super Soldier Serum," Josh spoke. "I guess she was more right than she thought."

Heather took a minute to sit down on one of the dining chairs at Redfern's dinner table. While she sat, she tried to stabilise her breathing and get a firmer grasp of the situation. Once she felt that her heart rate was back to a normal pace, she once again rose to her feet.

"What else do we need to know about?" Heather questioned her voice hauntingly calm.

"I was hoping you'd ask me, because I found something else while I was examining the original research that you gave me," Redfern answered. "All six of you had MRI scans done, and you all had your emotional responses tested extensively. Were you informed of the emotional patterns that could be seen between all of you?"

"Yeah," Mark answered bitterly. "We've all been diagnosed with a mental disorder, so people have guessed that it's because the serum caused an emotional imbalance in all of us."

"That's one way of putting it," Redfern muttered, before she cleared her throat and spoke clearly. "This serum has enhanced you to the point where all of you are physically perfect. However, at the same time, the serum has broken down your emotional capabilities. Mood swings, recklessness, a higher chance of suffering mental disorders. The ramifications of this fault are serious, and I think you're already suffering because of it."

The Experiments remained quiet, shooting each other guilty looks as Redfern's words brought back certain memories for each of them. Sam's eyes in particular, met with Mark's, and the two of them quickly averted their gazes to their shoes after a brief second of ashamed eye contact.

"I can keep researching with what you've given me," Redfern offered, seeing their crestfallen expressions. "But that summarises everything you need to know."

"A perfect human is someone completely free from faults or defects," Heather stated darkly. "That's what the Doctor was trying to achieve when he gave us his serum. This is what happens when you try and create something with no flaws. It becomes a spectacular fuck-up."

"I could never understand why Phoenix locks away her emotions," Bella reminisced, her voice distant. "Now I know, it's because she's been taught that her emotions are her greatest defect. The one thing stopping her from being the perfect human that the Doctor wanted her to be."

Dr Redfern stepped closer to her laptop, and cleared her throat to draw The Experiments' attention back to her. "How long has it been since Phoenix was captured?" Redfern asked.

"She was taken just after we left your lab," Josh answered, casting Heather a quick look as he did so. "Phoenix got grabbed just before we managed to escape."

"That's almost two days," Redfern stated, shaking her head in disappointment. "She's most likely dead by now."

Horrified gasps echoed around the room as The Experiments reacted to her words. "She's not," Bella argued, refusing to accept a word of what Redfern was saying. "If you knew Phoenix's history, then you would know that the people who captured her aren't going to kill her."

"I didn't come to a conclusion based on Phoenix's history," Redfern looked at Bella as if she was missing out on a joke. "My conclusion, is based on what I've learned from Phoenix's genetics, and most importantly, her behaviour."

"Wha-?" Heather started to question, but was interrupted by Redfern turning her laptop around.

As The Experiments leaned in to look at what Redfern was presenting them with, they saw an image of security footage on the screen. It was of Phoenix, from when they were in Redfern's lab exactly two nights ago. Mark was the first to glance up at Redfern in confusion.

"I'm going to play the security footage for you and I want you all to keep a close eye on Phoenix," Redfern instructed, her hand moving towards the mouse to press play on the video. "Tell me what you see."

The grainy black and white video came alive as Dr Redfern pressed play. On the screen, Phoenix was shown to be watching Dr Redfern at her desk, analysing the information they had given her. Phoenix's focus on Redfern broke, she turned her head to the left. She was looking frantically around her surroundings, her chest rising and falling rapidly, her hand started to shake. Her strange behaviour stopped immediately when Dr Redfern called for her attention.

The video stopped at that point, and The Experiment's eyes travelled upwards from the computer screen to an expectant Dr Redfern. "I don't understand," Sam muttered. "She looked like…she looked like she'd seen something. Something that terrified her."

"I've seen her look like that before, we all have," Heather stated, looking back and forth between her other team members, testing to see if they had recognised it as well. "That's exactly how Phoenix looked when the video of Doctor Blake in the Databank first started playing. Something in the lab triggered a flashback."

"It wasn't something in the lab. It was the lab itself," Redfern corrected her. "You said that Phoenix was changed into a Superhuman by a madman, so she was experimented on wasn't she?" Heather nodded softly, and Redfern sighed. "Experimentations take place in a lab. I can only assume that my lab bares similarities to the lab in which Phoenix was experimented on. Does Phoenix have a problem with enclosed spaces, or white walls and clean workbenches? Has she ever shown discomfort at being in a hospital?"

Sam groaned and covered his face with his hands. "Holy shit," he came to a realisation, gasping quietly. "The science labs at school, Phoenix refuses to go in there under any circumstances. I never even thought anything of it before."

"But she was always spending time in the Research Labs at the Avengers Tower," Josh argued.

"Stark's labs were open space labs, with glass floors and walls, and the workbenches were never clean, they were always stacked high with clutter," Heather pointed out. "But what has any of this got to do with Phoenix most likely being dead?"

"Phoenix quite obviously suffered from PTSD," Dr Redfern pieced together her information "From what you've told me, I assume her PTSD stems from years of being imprisoned and experimented on. You told me that the people who were after you want your abilities. That means if Phoenix has been captured, then she is currently being imprisoned and experimented on."

"Oh god," Bella moaned, a whimper rising in her throat as she covered her mouth with her hands.

"Do you know what PTSD can do to a person?" Redfern questioned, continuing to speak despite Bella's muttering. "If Phoenix was being triggered just from standing in a lab, imagine what she's suffering by being placed in the exact same situation that caused her trauma in the first place."

"I told you!" Bella spat angrily, directing her rage toward Heather who had closed her eyes and was shaking her head. "You decided to abandon her, knowing full well that she has PTSD! Out of all of us, Phoenix is the one who has suffered more than we can even begin to comprehend!"

"I'm sorry," Heather mumbled. "I didn't think…I-I thought that."

Heather couldn't even finish her sentence, and stopped altogether, tears beginning to fall from her eyes. A lump formed in the back of her throat, preventing her from saying anything more. Josh moved to Heather's side and placed an arm around her shoulder, squeezing her close to his chest in an attempt to comfort her.

"I refuse to believe that Phoenix is dead," Sam denied Redfern's claims, tears pooling at the bottom of his eyes.

"Phoenix would be suffering from unrelenting flashbacks as a result of the countless number of triggers surrounding her. The crippling fear and anxiety would take hold. Her memories would run parallel to whatever she's experiencing," Redfern used her words to describe a vivid scenario. "Her heart, wouldn't be able to take the stress. Her entire body will give up, and she will collapse. That is, if she doesn't take her own life first."


	15. The Journal

**A/N: Suprisingly, I'm on top of it this week. I got the chapter finished with time to proof-read. Last week, I hinted at the possibility of dropping chapters in addition to uploading every Saturday. At the moment, that's probably not likely since I've not actually written ahead. But we'll see, I might find myself with inspiration and lots of free time. Not really much to say about this chapter, I guess you'll just have to read and find out. As always, don't forget to read, review and enjoy.**

* * *

The journey back to their hotel was spent in a state of dead silence. Heather sat in the far back of the vehicle, as far away from the furious stares as possible. Mark, Sam, Josh and Bella hadn't said anything yet, but as Heather watched them she could see them deciding on what harsh words were the best to use against her.

She decided she would just sit there and take whatever they threw at her, she deserved it after all. Nothing they would say to her could be worse than what she had already said to herself. If Phoenix was dead, it would be entirely her fault. She would've died in the most horrible state of fear possible, and all of that guilt came down on Heather in a flood.

It left her vulnerable. Exposed.

Her own mind turned against her.

The first headache struck Heather as Bella went slightly too fast over a speed bump. As she bounced in her seat, she was struck with a stabbing pain centred in the front of her head. She rubbed her forehead reassuringly, a vain attempt to stop the pain from growing worse.

She didn't have her pills with her. She had no way of stopping what was to come next. If they didn't reach their hotel soon, Heather would have to suffer through a mental force capable of sending her over the edge. Biting her tongue, she kept the pain to herself, and prayed.

By the time they reached the hotel, her head was swimming in pain and nausea curled in her stomach. As she stepped out of the car, her world spun and she struggled to see through the haze of her vision. Placing one hand on the car for support, she moved slowly.

Sam saw her struggling and moved to her side. He said something to her, most likely asking if she was ok, but as his mouth moved, no words escaped. Heather's surroundings thrummed and shuddered, as a high pitched ringing overtook her senses.

Clutching her ears, Heather sunk to the ground and brought her knees up to her chest as she buried her face. Shapes moved around her and she felt hands touching her shoulder in concern. She couldn't process what was happening in her surroundings, as the voices started echoing in her head.

She tried counting them and trying to differentiate between the voices but they all flowed together, screaming equally in her head. But...there was something else. Something more. Another familiar voice amidst the din, but it was one that didn't belong to any of her friends. A voice that she felt ashamed to recognise.

"CRU," Heather let out a whimper. "They're here."

Mark reacted instantaneously and turned around, frantically scanning their surroundings for any sign of them. Josh grabbed him just as they spotted several figures watching them across the street. The figures moved into the light, and they recognised Carver and Leda.

"Looks like we've been spotted," Carver joked, talking loudly so they could hear him across the street.

An enraged Mark tried escaping from Josh's grasp, but he just held him tighter, refusing to let him act on his rage. Bella hesitantly opened the car door and pulled a gun from the glovebox. Jamming the magazine into place loudly, Bella pointed the gun directly at CRU.

Seeing the weapon, Carver rose his hands in surrender, but Leda remained completely still. "Such a small girl making such a big threat," Carver teased.

Without blinking, Bella fired a shot at the lamppost above Carver's head, shattering the light. "I just fired a gun in broad daylight in the middle of Tokyo. That's how you know I'm serious," Bella snarled, her lips curled back as she bared her teeth at CRU menacingly. "You can cross the street, but your friend stays over there."

Carver hesitated, before following her orders. As he moved to cross the street, he signalled for Leda to remain where she was. "I would've thought Phoenix told you not to trust me," Carver mused. "And yet here you are, inviting me over for a chat."

"I prefer to think of this as an interrogation rather than a chat," Bella snapped, stepping forward to the front of the group as Carver reached their side of the road and stood ten meters in front of Bella.

Carver scoffed, a breath of air leaving his nose in a bemused sound as he responded to Bella's snappy words. "You don't need to be so mean sweetheart. We both want the same thing here."

"Are you crazy?" Sam demanded, face contorted in disgust, his Southern accent growing thicker along with his anger. "What we want and what you want are two very different things. Don't even try to compare our motives to yours, because we ain't having none of it."

"Maybe not to begin with, but I think recent circumstances have provided us with an incentive to combine our resources," Caver suggested with a smirk, talking a sauntering step forward. "We both want to get Phoenix back."

For a short moment, Bella's grip on the weapon softened. She almost lowered the gun, but closed her hands tighter around it once she overcame her shock. The silence that fell over the group made it easier to hear Heather groaning in pain.

Sam and Wanda had knelt beside her once she had collapsed to the ground. Now, she was leaning against the mini bus with her eyes closed. She wasn't reacting to the situation, she was completely numb to her surroundings, and was the only one who hadn't reacted to Carver's words.

"You're the one that kidnapped her in the first place," Bella refused to take the bait, and made her accusation against Carver. She attempted to keep her voice low, but her words came out more uncertain than she wanted them to.

Carver shook his head, his teasing grin faded as the time for playful banter came to a jarring finish. "I'm not the one who took Phoenix," he informed them, making eye-contact with Bella to express his sincerity. "The outsider grabbed her before I got close."

"The sniper," Wanda stated. "He helped us escape."

"Only so he could get his hands on Phoenix," Carver retorted, his increasing anger giving his words a sharp edge. "He's an ex-Hydra solider, out to get revenge on the organisation. He used the smoke as a cover and escaped with Phoenix's through the hanger door. By the time my team got outside, he had vanished, with Phoenix."

Mark started laughing, a maniacal sound that the other Experiments had never heard him make before. Josh, surprised by the outburst, released Mark from his grip. Barely able to stand up straight due to laughing so forcefully, Mark pointed a finger at Carver.

"Phoenix. Got. Away," he laughed, his words coming out as breaths in between his fits of laughter. His laughter died down, allowing him to talk normally as he grinned cheekily at Carver. "You made a big show of how your team is better than us, and yet Phoenix still slips out of your grasp."

"Mark," Bella hissed his name, turning her head over her right shoulder. "Shut up."

"Shut up?" Mark repeated her demand in mock surprise. "I'm not gonna shut up, you wanna know why? Cause Phoenix is still alive. She's not dead. Bella. She's not dead. This fucker didn't get his hands on her, and now Phoenix Romanoff lives to fight another day."

Carver clenched his jaw in anger, glaring at Mark through venomous eyes. "She's been captured by Hydra's most dangerous assassin," he snapped. "Phoenix would've had a better chance of living if I had been the one to take her."

"No, she really wouldn't've," Mark said, attempting to contain even more manic laughter. "If this assassin guy is ex-Hydra, then obviously he was able to recognise that you guys are nothing but evil Nazis, which means he already has something in common with Phoenix."

Hearing Mark's words, Bella came to a revelation and a hopeful smile twitched at the corners of her mouth. "You don't want Phoenix back because the assassin's going to kill her," Bella addressed Carver with her realisation. "You want Phoenix back because you know they're going to end up working together."

"You should be more careful about what information you share with us," Josh commented, his face pulled back into a grin as he high-fived Mark.

"Don't think you're going to get off so easily," Carver warned. "Without Phoenix to protect, you're vulnerable. You'd better watch your back-."

His speech was cut off as Wanda, with a flick of her wrist, hit him square in the chest with a pulse of red energy that sent him flying backwards. "They might not have Phoenix to protect them, but they have an Avenger," Wanda threatened. "Now leave."

Pulling himself to his feet, Carver fixed Wanda with a glare, and didn't even break eye contact as he spat into the gutter on his left. "Whatever the lady wants," he retorted, the snark rolling off his words as if they were venom.

Carver walked across the street, a smile breaking out across his face once he was sure The Experiments couldn't see his face. Clicking his fingers at Leda, he signalled for her to walk by his side as they slipped into an alleyway and used the buildings to disappear from The Experiment's line of sight.

"They took the bait," Carver informed her. "Now, we keep an eye on them, and wait for them to lead us to Phoenix."

Bella didn't lower her gun until she was sure that Carver and Leda had gone. However, as she began to let her arm drop, Josh stopped her. "We should probably stay armed in case they come back," he recommended. "Wait until we get inside safely."

Sam remained with a tentative hand on Heather's shoulder, attempting to coax her into a standing position. With the threat of Carver having now vanished, all of their attention was focused on their team member who had suspiciously fallen to the ground in pain.

"We need to get her inside," Bella pressed.

"Say no more," Sam nodded.

Obeying Bella's request, he placed one arm underneath Heather's legs and the other around her upper back. Grunting, he rose to his feet and scooped her into his arms. If Heather didn't like being carried bridal style by Sam, she didn't object. In fact, she couldn't do much aside from lie in Sam's arms.

Once they made it to their hotel room, Sam lowered Heather gently onto the first bed he managed to reach. Stepping back, he moved to stand beside Bella as Josh rushed forward and tried to help her. Bella watched anxiously, biting her nails in fear.

"Is she ok?" Bella questioned after a minute of silence. "Do you know what's wrong?"

"I'm not actually a Doctor, Bella, I only know basic first aid. I have no idea what's wrong with her or what's causing it," he responded, face scrunched in worry as he leaned closer to Heather's face. "Hang on, she's mumbling something. I need a pen and paper."

Mark was the first to react to Josh's request, and grabbed the complimentary pen and notepad that the hotel had provided. He handed it to Josh, who listened intensely to Heather's mutterings, before furiously scribbling onto the notepad.

Once he was sure he had copied exactly what Heather had said, he handed the paper to Bella with his face scrunched up in confusion. "It's just a sequence of numbers," he stated.

Without warning, Heather lurched into a sitting position. Throwing her legs over the side of the bed, she heaved herself to her feet and ran for the bag sitting on top of the desk. Rifling through the pockets, Heather found what she was looking for and popped a small white pill out of a box.

Sam ran to her side just as Heather shoved the pill into her mouth and swallowed it. Luckily, Sam managed to put his hands on her waist at the same second she collapsed and fell backwards. Catching her, Sam carried her over to the bed once again and laid her down gently.

He checked the pulse at her neck, while Josh rushed over and placed his head against her chest to check if she was breathing. Bella gripped the paper in her hands tightly and almost ripped it accidentally, before she checked herself and smoothed out the paper.

"Pulse is fine," Sam announced

"Breathing's normal as well," Josh added, sighing in relief. He slumped to the ground next to the bed and nodded at Bella. "Did you figure out the numbers."

"Yeah," Bella replied, her voice distant as her eyes ran over the numbers on the page. "I think it's a phone number."

* * *

As surprising as it was that Phoenix had given up her information to the stranger, she was even more surprised when, after she finished telling him her story, he told her his. He still refused to give up his name, but he also gave up a lot of information that Phoenix knew was sensitive.

He told her that he used to fight against Hydra, until he was captured, and they'd brainwashed him to fight _for_ Hydra instead. He lost his memories, even his identity, and became a drone to their orders. During the Hydra uprising, someone had shown him the truth, and he had run from Hydra. After spending several months underground, he resurfaced, and began weakening Hydra's forces wherever he could.

"Not that I don't appreciate the backstory," Phoenix commented when he had finished, reaching across the table to grab a French fry from the stranger's plate. "But where does Project Achilles and CRU come into this story?"

They sat in their hotel room, facing each other at the small circular table in the centre of the hotel's claustrophobic kitchenette. Their takeout fast food was taking up most of the space on their small table, leaving no elbow room whatsoever.

"CRU I don't know much about," he confessed. "But I did a lot of work for Project Achilles. I crossed off the people that wanted to put a stop to it, or the people who backed out after they knew too much. When my memory started coming back, the missions I did for Project Achilles were one of the first things I remembered."

"I wonder why," Phoenix scoffed. "But other than crossing off the people who were a threat to the Project, were you actually involved with it?"

"No," he answered. "What about you, you still haven't told me what you know about the Project? You've only shared the information you have on CRU."

Phoenix shrugged. "What's there to know? It's a bomb. If it goes off, people die, end of story."

"You're extremely sarcastic," the stranger stated, looking her face up and down as he seemed to almost be examining her, searching her expression for something familiar. "You're also acting defensive, which means you're hiding something."

"I know a lot of sarcastic people," Phoenix responded.

After a brief silence, she took on a more serious tone. "Look I wasn't involved in the making of Project Achilles," Phoenix confessed. "There are only two things I know about the Project. One; I know where it is, and I will take that secret to the grave with me. And two; I know the exact scale of its destruction. I've seen it firsthand."

"You were Dr Bl-," the stranger started, but stopped himself from saying the name, remembering how Phoenix had reacted the last time he had mentioned it. "You were his right-hand. He didn't share with you the specifications of the weapon?"

"No," Phoenix responded, shaking her head. "I was a soldier, not a scientist."

Without warning, the hotel room phone started ringing loudly. Phoenix jumped in her chair at the noise, and the stranger got to his feet quickly and stormed over to the phone. Phoenix turned in her chair to watch him while he picked up the phone and demanded to know who was calling.

Whoever it was, gave their answer and the stranger looked at Phoenix. Holding out the phone to her, he nodded. "You'll want to take this," he stated as he offered her the phone. "Tempting as it may be, don't give away our location."

Rising to her feet, Phoenix walked tentatively over to the phone. Expecting the worse, she gripped the phone tightly and slowly placed it against her ear. "This is Phoenix Romanoff," she stated her name, waiting for a response from her caller.

"Phoenix?!" the voice sounded extremely familiar as they almost shouted her name in excitement.

"Sam?" Phoenix questioned. "How did you get this number? No, never mind that. Are you all ok? Did everyone make it out of the base safely? Is everyone there?"

"Everyone's here Phoenix, we're fine," Sam responded, his laughter causing the phone to crackle.

"Sam this line isn't secure," Phoenix informed him as she looked up and made eye contact with the stranger. "Do you have my laptop?"

"Uh, yeah," Sam responded.

* * *

By the time The Experiments finished telling Phoenix everything that had happened over their video call, the scowl on her face had almost permanently imbedded itself into her expression. The stranger, having heard everything The Experiments had shared, watched Phoenix with a weary expression.

"I was gone for two days," Phoenix spoke calmly, stormy eyes focused on the laptop screen in front of her. "Bella has her head wrapped in a bandage, Heather is unconscious, you've been approached by CRU and Dr Redfern has told you that part of our DNA is alien."

"The last two weren't exactly our fault," Josh spoke up defensively.

The Experiments had crowed in front of Phoenix's laptop in order for them all to see her. Wanda stayed at Heather's side to monitor her while the others spoke with Phoenix. The laptop had moved around quite a bit, until The Experiments managed to find a suitable spot for it on top of the desk, angled downwards to face them as they sat on the ground.

"Heather passing out wasn't our fault either," Mark added. "That just kind of happened."

"But Bella having a giant gash down the side of her face was definitely your fault," Phoenix jabbed, directing her words at Sam and Mark who sunk their heads low. "You do realise you're jeopardizing the balance of the team by picking pointless fights with one another. Why on earth were you even fighting in the first place?"

"That's not important," Sam quickly dismissed the subject, his voice climbing in pitch slightly.

Luckily for Sam, their conversation was steered in an entirely different direction as in the far corner of The Experiments' hotel room, Heather began to stir. She slowly lifted her eyes while groaning loudly at the amount of effort it took for her to move her arms.

Hearing the noise, Phoenix lifted her head upwards and began searching the screen, waiting for Heather to appear. With Wanda's help, Heather rose to her feet and shuffled over to where her team was huddled in front of the laptop. She smiled weakly when she saw Phoenix's image on the computer screen.

"Phoenix," despite her tired voice, Heather sounded enthusiastic as she spoke Phoenix's name with a rush of relief. "We thought you were dead."

"I heard," Phoenix stated. Her face was stoic, but her eyes searched Heather's carefully, unsure of what she wanted to say.

Heather's smile broke, her face falling in anguish as turned from Phoenix. "I'm sorry," she apologised. "When we thought that CRU had kidnapped you, I left you for dead."

Immediately, Phoenix's expression broke out in confusion. "Heather, you did the right thing," she reassured her. "If I ever get captured, the correct procedure is to leave me behind and retreat to a safe location. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."

"Did you just make a Star Trek reference?" Josh demanded.

"Blame Clint," Phoenix shrugged. "What I'm saying is that launching a rescue mission for the sake of one person isn't worth it. Besides, dying would've been a much better option over what being captured by CRU would've done to me."

That sent the group quiet, at least until Bella looked up and stared at Phoenix through narrowed eyes. "What have you been doing for the past two days?" Bella asked. "Carver said that the sniper at the base was the one who saved you before CRU could grab you. Is that true?"

"Yeah it's true," Phoenix answered with a sideways glance at the stranger. "Since we have a mutual interest in stopping CRU, we've decided to work together. We've been coming up with strategies to try and take down CRU."

"We weren't sure if Carver was telling the truth or not. He claimed he knew who took you but it's obvious he has no idea where you are," Bella informed her, glancing nervously to the right corner of her screen where she had seen Phoenix glance earlier when speaking about her ally. "Carver said he was ex-Hydra."

"Don't worry, he's trustworthy. Now, I think we should focus on the problem at hand," Phoenix redirected the conversation. "Other than the Super Soldier Serum, Dr Redfern told you that she had no idea what caused the mutations in our DNA. She identified that it was alien, which basically means that she has no clue as to what caused our abilities, right?"

"Yeah, Redfern said that she never seen anything like it before," Sam agreed solemnly. "Whatever it is, Redfern said it was impossible to identify."

"Maybe not impossible," Phoenix mused. "There's always been one person who knew exactly what was in the Human Enhancement Serum. After all, he's the one who created it."

"But the Doctor's gone," Heather argued, her voice cracked. "And he didn't share his research with anybody."

"He didn't, but, the most important part of being a scientist is writing everything down," Phoenix informed them. Turning her head, she addressed the stranger. "You said that CRU were operating out of a Hydra base in L.A. Does is operate under the codename of Pluto."

"Yeah," the stranger replied. The Experiments heard the man's voice, but he still remained outside the eye line of the webcam. "It's the biggest operational Hydra base that was never originally a SHIELD base. It was the initiation ground for new agents. They went through initiation at Pluto before being planted in SHIELD as sleeper agents."

"It was also a base for high ranking Hydra members. The Doctor had an office there," Phoenix added as she turned back to the other Experiments. "He kept a journal, in which he wrote down everything about the serum. He always preferred hand written notes over keeping a digital record."

"But SHIELD recovered his journal," Heather argued, ignoring the surprised stares of her fellow team members as they silently questioned her unexpected knowledge. "They didn't find anything relating to the serum. They were just notes about the previous subjects."

"That was a lie that a Hydra agent thought up. The second Natasha handed that journal over to an agent, it was taken directly back to the Doctor," Phoenix informed them. "Hydra have been manipulating things from the very beginning. I was there when the journal was handed back to him, and I was there when he ordered for it to be taken to Pluto and placed in his office."

"That was a year and a half ago Phoenix, what makes you think it's still there?" Josh questioned.

"It would've been placed into a six digit combination safe, and the only person who knew the code to the safe was the Doctor," Phoenix answered, and held up a finger to silence The Experiments before they could point out the obvious flaw in her plan. "Except, I saw the Doctor input the code once, and I can still remember it."

Bella stared expressionless at Phoenix for a second, before her face broke out into a grin. "Then I guess that's our next stop."


	16. The Armguard

**A/N:** **It's been a while folks. Unfortunatley I was struck by illness about two weeks ago, and I didnt get a chance to do much writing. I know I'm uploading this outside of my schedule, but I wanted to get the chapter to you as soon as I finished it. Hopefully, by Saturday night I will have uploaded chapters 17 and 18 in order to get back on track with my regular uploading schedule. Despite taking me far too long to write, I hope you like this chapter. As always, don't forget to read, review and enjoy.**

* * *

In the middle of the day, Tokyo was an incredibly busy city. Cars lined the street, backed up for increasingly long amounts of time. A middle aged man in an extremely expensive suit, driving an extremely expensive sports car, tapped his steering wheel impatiently as he stared at the seemingly never ending line of traffic ahead of him.

With an irritated sigh, he turned to his right to glance out the window. In the same second, a motorbike roared loudly as it came to a halt directly next to the man's car, carrying two people. The man in the sports car stared at the odd pair in surprise.

The driver of the motorbike had neglected a helmet, and instead, wore large goggles and a half-face mask that covered his mouth and jaw, both accessories were black, matching a uniform that looked like it belonged to a SWAT team member.

Behind the man, was a teenage girl who had also ignored safety by not wearing a helmet, letting her long red hair fall from her head in a tangled mess. The girl turned her head, spotting the man in the sports car, she grinned, before the man sitting in front of her drove off, weaving in and out of traffic dangerously.

"I think we're making a scene," Phoenix shouted in the stranger's ear to be heard over the noise of the wind.

The stranger didn't respond, and Phoenix was unable to see any expression in his face due to the goggles and the mask. The accessories left only his forehead visible, and Phoenix knew that the stranger had done it on purpose to mask himself both literally and figuratively.

He'd spent the majority of the previous night in total silence, which wasn't entirely strange behaviour, but he was acting far too withdrawn for what Phoenix would consider normal for him. Phoenix's best guess was that he was scared he'd revealed too much about himself. And yet Phoenix still had no idea who he was.

The answer was there, at the front of her mind, ready to be revealed at any moment. And yet, Phoenix still couldn't put a name to his face. It was a point of constant madness for her. She knew exactly who he was, but still she had no clue _who_ he was.

Something in her own mind was blocking her from answering the truth. Maybe her own common sense had buried the truth from her. Maybe it was the Doctor's conditioning. That was a likely option, after all the stranger had conducted missions for Project Achilles. But if they had met before then he would've recognised her when he first saw her.

The tall buildings of the city began to dwindle in number as the heavy traffic became lighter. Phoenix couldn't read Japanese, and therefore was unable to decipher the road signs, but it wasn't hard for her to figure out that they were leaving Tokyo.

Her concern grew more evident once she realised that they had left the edge of the city over half an hour ago. Wrapping her hands tighter around the seat underneath her, Phoenix kept her eyes focused on the stranger sitting in front of her.

It wasn't until Phoenix saw the signs indicating a private airfield several kilometres away that she began to relax. The medium sized building appeared as they wove around the curve in the road, and Phoenix's eyes immediately picked out the small planes sitting on the runway.

The stranger pulled on the side of the road, several meters away from the roadway that would lead them into the airfield. Grateful that they had finally come to a stop, Phoenix slid off the back of the motorbike and took the SIG Sauer P220 that the stranger handed her.

"I guess this means that they aren't expecting us?" Phoenix questioned as she checked the magazine on the gun.

"Yeah, and to get what we want, we're going to have to be persuasive," the stranger answered.

"How persuasive?" Phoenix asked with a smirk as she twirled the gun in her hand.

Pulling the Colt M4A1 automatic carbine from his back, the stranger placed his finger on the trigger, and held it casually in his right hand. "In order to fly the plane, we only need the pilot. Anyone else is expendable as leverage."

Phoenix's smirk vanished immediately, and her hand shot out, grabbing the barrel of the lightweight rifle with a fierce and unrelenting grip. "You aren't killing anyone," Phoenix made her point clear, speaking with a firmness in her voice that made it sound as if her voice was stone.

The stranger looked surprised, and let his finger fall away from the trigger of the weapon. Staring at Phoenix with irritation, he flared his nostrils. "Since when are you so concerned with morals?" He demanded. "You have a complete disregard for anything that could be considered lawful. In this line of work, you can't afford to be a pacifist."

"There's a lot of horrible things I'm more than willing to do for the sake of a mission, but killing innocent people is not one of them," Phoenix stated with a firm voice. "Don't lecture me on values when the only thing you believe in is the mission."

She let go off his rifle and tried stepping past him in the direction of the airfield. "The mission comes first!" He shouted, unexpectedly throwing his rifle to the ground. Hearing the same words that had been drilled into her own brain, Phoenix turned on her heels to face him as her stomach churned with nausea, his words became a bitter taste on her tongue. "Isn't that what you believe in?"

"That's what he brainwashed me to believe. All that mattered were his orders, the only thing that held any meaning in my life were his words," Phoenix spat, her voice increasing with volume as her words escaped erratically from her mouth.

Without warning, she stormed over to the stranger, her shouts increasing with volume as she approached. "His lies controlled me for ten years. So don't think, for even a second, that the mission is the only thing that matters to me. What matters to me, is my motivation behind the mission. I'm not doing this for the sake of orders, I'm doing this for the sake of the people I care about!"

She came to a halt, inches away from him. Her lip was quivering with anger, and her blue eyes grew even darker from the stormy rage brewing within her. When she opened her mouth to speak again, her voice lowered to a eerily calm whisper, barely containing her rage. "Maybe if you stopped acting like the weapon Hydra brainwashed you to be, then you might have a chance of understanding that."

Stepping back from the stranger, Phoenix turned and picked up the rifle that he had let fall to the ground. She thrust it into his hands, her jaw still clenched tightly. Without another word, Phoenix readied the pistol in her hand and began walking in the direction of the airfield, expecting the stranger to follow her without complaint. Which he did.

Before they reached the main building, Phoenix pulled back and nodded for the stranger to take lead. He met her eyes, searching her expression for the unspoken resolution to their argument that had occurred just minutes earlier.

"Don't kill anyone," Phoenix commanded, the depth in her eyes showing how willing she was to hold him to that request.

The stranger entered the building and fired two warning shots at the ceiling. Hearing the noise, the people inside dropped to the ground, while others tried running for the exit. Phoenix walked in behind the stranger, holding her gun up high, and as she saw people attempting to run, she fired a bullet at the space above the exit. The group that had attempted to flee stopped in their tracks, frozen in place before the door.

"Does anyone here speak English?" the stranger questioned with a shout.

The room was wrought with a heavy silence as those in the room looked anywhere but at the stranger. Phoenix quickly took stock of the group scattered before her. On the ground there was a young woman and an older man, who had their arms wrapped around their heads. Standing in front of the exit, were two younger men and an older woman.

Behind the desk, was a man of about sixty, the only one who had not hit the ground or run for the exit. "I speak English," the man announced, speaking in almost perfect English. He spoke calmly as he stepped out from behind the desk, but kept his distance from Phoenix and the stranger. It clearly wasn't the first time he had stared a gun in the face.

"We need a plane and a pilot," the stranger demanded. "Someone who can take us to LA."

Casually grabbing a pilot's helmet from a hook above him, the man nodded to Phoenix and the stranger. "I'll take you, I hear LA's sunny this time of year," the man offered, walking towards the door that led to the aircraft hangar. "Do you mind putting the guns down, I don't want holes in my plane."

Phoenix's eyebrows went upward in surprise as she made eye contact with the stranger and almost laughed at his stunned expression. Obviously he had come prepared for a fight, but he wasn't prepared for the man to immediately offer his help without any form of an argument whatsoever.

Phoenix immediately put her gun in her back pocket and followed after the man, leaving the stranger behind to stare at the ground. Eventually, he remembered where he was and looked up at the group still waiting in the building and staring at him.

"Carry on," the stranger addressed them, clearing his throat before he followed Phoenix and the man who had offered to be their pilot.

"What's your name?" Phoenix asked the man as they entered the aircraft hangar and he led them towards the largest plane in the furthest corner of the hangar.

"Nomura Yoshino, but to make things easier, you can just call me Yosh," he informed her, a faint smile on his lips as he directed Phoenix towards the plane by motioning to it. "Here's the plane, it doesn't look like much, but it'll get us across the ocean. So, can I ask for your name or is that information classified?"

"You're not likely to get anything out of him," Phoenix answered, pointing over her shoulder to the stranger. "My name's Phoenix, Phoenix Romanoff."

Yosh held out his hand to Phoenix in a handshake, which she accepted. "Good to meet you Phoenix, we'll leave within the hour."

* * *

Carver's jaw was clenched tight, his face contorted in rage. He didn't even try to hide the expression of pure wrath as he stormed into the main building. Journey and Leda stood in the centre of the building, Journey's right hand wrapped around the throat of one of the workers.

Leda spoke in fluent Japanese as she questioned him, repeating the same questions that Carver had ordered her to ask. The man responded in shaky Japanese, the terror evident in his voice as he answered. After a minute Leda looked upwards, and making eye contact with Carver, she shook her head.

Flaring his nostrils, Carver felt his veins burn and his arm glowed with the EXTREMIS energy. The workers inside the building stared at him in fear as he roared in anger and punched the wall next to him, leaving a hole the size of his fist, scorch marks staining the edges of the hole.

"Where. Is. She?" Carver demanded, his words coming out one at a time as he hissed loudly with a breath between each word.

"Phoenix and the solider were here 90 minutes ago," Leda answered. "They demanded a pilot to take them out of the country and the senior pilot, Yoshino, agreed to take them without hesitation. They left just under an hour ago."

"She's gone!" Carver demanded, his voice loud enough that it reverberated from the walls. "They were meant to hold her here for us! They weren't meant to fly her out of here! Why did they agree to take her? Where did they go? Ask him where they went."

Leda nodded and turned to the man that Journey still held by the throat. She repeated Carver's question in Japanese, and the man answered. "LA," he said in a strong Japanese accent, his fearful eyes travelling to Carver, before he spoke again in Japanese.

"What did he say?" Carver demanded, addressing Leda.

"He said that Yoshino didn't want to hand over an innocent girl to an evil man," Leda relayed the information.

Carver's grin was sickeningly fake as he stared the man in the eye. He approached him slowly, bearing over him menacingly. Journey released the man from her grip, letting him fall to the ground before he dragged himself into the corner of the room to escape Carver's approach.

Carver came to a stop barely a foot away from him, and bent down, his face inches from the man's. "There's no such thing as evil people," Carver whispered. "There are just people with different values. Do you wanna know what I value? I value promises. And your people promised me to hand Phoenix over if she showed up on your doorstep, but you broke that promise."

Carver's hand shot out, and grabbed the man's throat. His arm glowed red with EXTREMIS energy, the heat radiating from it sizzled the flesh of the man's throat. As Carver's grip tightened around his windpipe, the man began choking, his face turned red as he made loud gagging noises.

"All I want, is to take back what rightfully belongs to me," Carver growled. "What's so evil about that?"

No sooner than the words left his mouth, Carver released the man's throat, and instead, grabbed his head with both hands, still glowing brightly, the EXTREMIS glaringly evident in his veins. His grip tightening around the man's head, Carver abruptly twisted his hands, the man's neck snapping with a sickening crack.

Carver released him, letting the man drop to the floor with a thud. He shot up to his feet and turned to Journey and Leda, shaking his head angrily. "I went to a lot of effort to contact every airfield within fifty miles of Tokyo," Carver muttered, storming past the two women for the exit. "And the one airfield that Phoenix goes to, is the one with a pilot that allows her to escape."

"We gonna go after her?" Journey asked. "By the time we get to LA, she might be long gone. Even if she does stay in the city, we have no way of tracking her down."

"Well it's a good thing we know exactly where she's going," Carver responded, continuing to stare ahead, rather than looking back at the women that followed behind him, flanking him on either side as they walked out of the building. "First she accesses the Project Achilles file, and then she approaches Dr Redfern, a scientist with a specialisation in studying mutations in human DNA. Where do you think she's going next Journey?"

"Pluto," Journey realised. "She's going for Blake's journal. Which is smack bang in the middle of the Pluto Base."

"She wants to know just what it is that Blake put in that serum of his," Carver stated, smirking at the thought. "Phoenix is going to come to us of her own accord, we just need to be in the right place at the right time. Journey, you and I are going to regroup with the rest of the team. But Leda, you're staying here. Your mission is to keep an eye on Phoenix's friends. Follow them, and don't ever let them out of your sight. If Phoenix slips out of our grasp again, we can use them for leverage."

* * *

Leaning back in the co-pilot's seat, Phoenix stared out the window ahead of her at the never-ending expanse of clouds. Directly in front of her, was the complex control panel of the jet, every inch of it was covered in buttons, levers and dials. Phoenix had no idea what any of them did, so she elected not to touch them.

Instead, she curled up in the chair, her knees tucked up close to her chest while she focused on staring out the window. Occasionally she would turn her head to look at the man sitting on her right, who remained in silence most of the time. Between the two silent men on the plan with her, she preferred Yosh's company, simply because she knew his identity.

"Does anyone ever call you Yoshi?" Phoenix asked.

Yosh smiled and nodded. "My granddaughter," he answered. "Do you like video games?"

"Not really, but I watch Clint play them all the time," Phoenix answered, then realised what she said and attempted to elaborate. "He's uh, he's sort of, my dad."

"How can he be sort of your father?" Yosh questioned.

Phoenix shrugged. "He's not my father by birth, but he did adopt me about a year ago. It's complicated."

"It doesn't sound complicated. It sounds like he's your father. It's a fairly simple concept."

Phoenix gave no response and continued to stare at the clouds ahead of her. They began to grow darker, either due to an oncoming storm or because they were travelling in the direction of the receding sun. Yosh made no attempt to continue the line of conversation, but glanced at Phoenix out of the corner of his eye, seemingly able to know what she was thinking.

"About three days ago, a group came to the airfield," Yosh unexpectedly launched into a story, Phoenix turning to him with mild surprise. "They were a very strange group, there was three of them. Two women and a man. The first woman was dark skinned, very tall, clearly American. The second woman was Asian, and when she spoke I could recognise a North Korean accent. But the man, he was the one who's very presence incited a primal fear. His arms were tattooed, and weapons hung off his body as naturally as an arm would."

"Carver," Phoenix whispered his name. "The people you described, I know them. They're trying to capture me."

"I know," Yosh nodded solemnly. "The man, Carver, he said he was looking for someone who might try to leave the country. He described a young girl, with hair like fire and eyes like the depths of the sea. He said the girl's beauty was immeasurable, and staring at her too long was like staring at the sun. He said she was the most beautifully dangerous creature ever conceived. I knew when you walked in the door, that he was describing you."

"If Carver warned you about me, then why are you helping us?" Phoenix questioned.

"The way he talked about you," Yosh's voice quivered for the first time since talking to Phoenix as his face contorted in disgust. "That man has sick intentions. What he wants from you, is too horrific to speak of. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I allowed him to get his hands on you."

"It's nothing like that, I have valuable information that he wants," Phoenix clarified. "And because of my unique skills, Carver wants to draft me into the ranks of his tactical team."

"No. I know what he really wants," Yosh sounded almost terrified. "I've seen it in his eyes."

The air around Phoenix turned to needles that pricked her skin. Yosh's words were enough to incite an uncomfortable feeling that crawled its way up her spine. The atmosphere spun the unspoken words around them, reverberating in their minds.

Phoenix silently rose to her feet and walked out of the cockpit, making her way down the aisle of the plane to where the stranger was sitting in one of the passenger seats. He sat upright, staring at the seat in front of him. There was no sign of casual mannerisms in the way he sat. Only the rigidity of a soldier, awaiting orders in complete stillness.

"You look like you're sleeping with your eyes open," Phoenix commented. "How do people do that anyway? Shouldn't it be physically impossible to sleep with your eyes open."

"I know what you're doing," the stranger sighed. "You're taking whatever chance you can to incite a conversation. You're trying to get me to talk so you can figure me out."

"Maybe I just like making conversation," Phoenix argued, sitting in the seat across the aisle from him, leaning on the arm rest.

"You're not a conversationalist," the stranger responded, keeping his eyes trained on the back of the seat in front of him. "People like us, we only talk when it's necessary."

"What do you mean, people like us?"

"Living weapons. Trained to follow orders and nothing else."

Phoenix looked down, focusing on her own fingers as she traced circles on the surface of the arm rest. Attempting to make conversation with the stranger clearly wasn't working, nothing seemed to be working. It was starting to seem more and more like he didn't have a personality for Phoenix to decipher.

Phoenix was stuck, trapped between a man who talked too much about things Phoenix couldn't process in her own mind, and a man who wasn't a man, but a toy soldier, frozen in place until someone picked him up and started playing with him. But there was no one. No one to give him orders.

Phoenix realised with confronting clarity, that he was the middle ground. The space between realisations. He had realised that he had been lied to, brainwashed to follow orders as a weapon, but he had not yet realised how to function without orders.

Phoenix wondered if that was what she would've been like if Natasha hadn't saved her. Searching for a mission that was never going to be delivered. What was it that Natasha had said to her? What had convinced her to move on? Had she moved on? Or was her denial simply less obvious?

Phoenix spent the remainder of their flight in the back corner of the plane. She nestled herself in a window seat at the far right of the plane, as far away from the others as possible. She couldn't even remember the last time she had been alone. The entirety of the mission, she had either been with The Experiments or the stranger.

She felt exposed at the mere thought of it. They could see her. Now more than ever, with the danger of everything being brought to light, Phoenix had to keep her emotions, and especially her knowledge, to herself. For the sake of The Experiments. To keep them safe.

When the first tear fell from her eye, she realised that she missed them. She missed her friends so much that it caused physical pain in her chest. And Natasha and Clint. She missed them as well. More tears began to fall from her eyes, and since she was alone, Phoenix allowed herself to quietly breakdown.

The second they touched down, the stranger was on his feet. He stood impatiently by the door as he felt the engine being switched off underneath him. Vaguely, his listened as the pilot explained to Phoenix that they had landed in a private airfield an hour outside of Los Angeles. The stranger didn't care, he just wanted to disembark the metal death-trap.

As Yosh opened the door, the stranger practically leapt from the plane. Not even bothering to wait for the staircase, he jumped to the ground. Phoenix and Yosh waited for an airfield worker to wheel the staircase to the door, before they descended the staircase and gratefully, their feet touched solid ground.

"Phoenix," Yosh addressed her as she started to walk away. Hearing Yosh call her name, Phoenix stopped and walked back towards him. "Please, take care. Whatever it is that you're planning on doing, be careful, and stay away from that man."

"Thank you for your help," Phoenix expressed her gratitude as she shook his hand. "But I can handle myself."

"Can you?"

Yosh's question, once again, went unanswered by Phoenix. She considered giving an answer, but with no feasible answer to give, she simply turned around and walked in the direction of the stranger, who waited for her across the runway.

Once she reached him, they walked side by side in the direction of the road. The middle of the day in California was hot, Phoenix could feel the heat radiating off the dry ground beneath her. Once they stepped onto the hot tarmac of the road, Phoenix could almost feel the heat burn through the soles of her shoes.

Eventually a car came, speeding around the corner. A black Mercedes, shiny and well kept. Phoenix stood in the centre of the road, waiting patiently as the driver saw her and slammed on the brakes, the car skidding to a stop just inches from where Phoenix stood.

Phoenix walked around the driver side door and opened it, grabbing the driver by his shirt and tossing him out of the car and to the side. The stranger moved towards the driver's seat, but Phoenix shook her finger at him and sat behind the wheel.

As he reluctantly sat in the passenger seat, Phoenix smirked. "My turn to drive," she announced proudly as she pressed foot on the accelerator, and sped off down the road.


	17. The Addiction

**A/N: Let me tell you all a story about procrastinating. On Wednesday night, I stayed up until 3 AM to finish an assignment for school that I'd barely started, and I have about two more assignments to go that I haven't started either. As you might notice from this epic fable, I've been pretty stressed out, so I haven't had much of a chance to do any writing. This series is going to be finished before Christmas, I can promise you that much. Next year, I have some really big plans for the series, but more about that at a later date. For now, Chapter 17 is finshed, so don't forget to read, review and enjoy.**

* * *

"Ok, hold still, this might sting."

"Ow!"

"I said hold still."

Josh sat cross legged on the bed in front of Bella, a first aid kit open in his lap as he tended to the cut on her forehead. He dabbed at the wound with a cotton ball soaked in some form of antibacterial that gave off a strong odour of chemicals, burning the nostrils of anyone who dared to breathe through their nose.

Heather worked on searching their room for anything they might accidentally leave behind. She got down on her stomach to check underneath the bed closest to the door and frowned when she saw the dust and rubbish underneath it.

"They really need to employ better cleaners," she commented as she got to her feet, brushing off her shirt.

"What time did Phoenix say she was getting to LA?" Mark questioned, the anxiety clear in his voice as he rubbed his hands together.

"Mark I literally just told you five minutes ago," Heather sighed in annoyance and rolled her eyes. "Phoenix called me an hour ago and said she was about to get on a plane that would get her to LA at 11 AM. Our flight isn't landing in LA until 6 PM, so she's going to get there 7 hours before us."

"And what comes after that?" Mark asked.

"Mark we've been over this," Heather groaned in exasperation. "The plan is to stay in our separate groups, communicating via untraceable audio and video calls, until we successfully get what we need from the Pluto base. You were there yesterday when we discussed the plan."

"It's not a good idea," Mark shook his head as he stared absently at wall in front of him. "Once we get to LA, we should regroup with Phoenix."

"CRU knows where we are," Bella spoke up, wincing as Josh continued to dab at her forehead with the cotton ball. "If we re-join Phoenix we'll be putting her at risk. Its better that we stay separated for her safety. Besides, for Phoenix's plan to work we need to be in two separate groups."

"Mark, I agree that it's not a good idea, and Bella, I agree that regrouping with Phoenix will be dangerous," Josh offered his opinion. "I only see one problem with this plan – well that's a lie there's about twenty things I don't like about the plan – but there's one major issue. This guy that Phoenix is working with, he's a risk, a big risk."

"Phoenix said he was trustworthy," said Sam. "And I trust Phoenix."

"I trust Phoenix as well, but I don't trust the stranger," Josh sounded offended at Sam's claim that he didn't trust Phoenix. "He's ex-Hydra, to me that sounds like a warning bell right there. We don't know anything about him, and neither does Phoenix. Usually, I trust Phoenix's judgement, but right off the bat she's decided to trust this guy for absolutely no reason."

"He saved her from CRU, maybe she's grateful," Sam suggested.

"No," Heather shook her head. "Phoenix doesn't believe in the concept of trusting someone just because they saved her life. She never trusts people automatically without good reason. He must've told her something that she hasn't shared with us. Something that makes him trustworthy in her mind."

"He never showed his face during the video call," Wanda spoke up from the corner of the room, presenting her observations to the group. "And he never spoke loud enough for us to hear. He fears exposure. He thinks that one of us will be able to recognise who he is if we see his face or hear him speaking. It is suspicious behaviour. He is hiding something."

"Exactly," Josh gestured to Wanda, relieved that someone was agreeing with his cynicism for once.

"Everyone has something to hide," Bella quipped, speaking with calm wisdom. "Do you want everyone to know everything about you? Your darkest thoughts? Your wildest emotions? Your deepest secrets?"

Josh went red in the face under Bella's stare and dropped the cotton ball, fumbling with it for a minute before he clenched it in his fist and tossed it into the bin. "It's not as bad as I thought it was, it'll heal in about a week, put a - put a band aid on it to stop infection," he stuttered, his cheeks still bright red.

Bella regarded Josh with a confused expression for a second before she turned to look at the rest of the group while Josh leapt to his feet a bit too quickly and moved to stand in the corner of the room. "My point is, that just because he's hiding his identity doesn't mean he's untrustworthy," Bella elaborated her earlier point. "Maybe he's done something wrong in the past and doesn't want to be judged for it. Look at the way we used to treat Phoenix, I don't blame this guy for not revealing himself to us."

"That's not relevant!" Heather snapped.

"I'm just using it as an example," Bella stated calmly. "Phoenix -."

Heather cut her off abruptly. "Phoenix can handle herself if something goes wrong," Heather spoke loudly, firmly making her final point. "She has a reason to trust this guy, so we need to trust her judgement. We aren't changing the plan, end of discussion."

Having laid down the final word, Heather stalked off in the direction of the bathroom, intent of stealing the complimentary soaps. Sam sat down next to Bella on the bed and patted her knee in way of reassurance. She smiled meekly in response.

Allowing her curiosity to get the better of her, Wanda approached the two of them and addressed Bella. "Why did Heather react that way when you mentioned the way you used to treat Phoenix?" Wanda asked, staring in confusion at the bathroom that Heather had retreated to.

"Heather doesn't like talking about what happened," Bella answered. "She hates being reminded of what happened. She thinks that if people never talk about it then it will be forgotten. Phoenix has forgiven her, but Heather just wants to pretend it never happened."

"What did she do that was so terrible?" Wanda pushed the question further.

"It wasn't just Heather, it was all of us," Sam corrected her.

"But Heather was the instigator," Bella added rapidly, wanting to make the fact clear. "It doesn't matter what we did, but we did it and Phoenix suffered because of it. That's all you need to know."

* * *

Since they had bought the tickets for their flight at such late notice, the group weren't able to purchase six seats close together. Instead, they resorted to separating into pairs. Josh and Mark sat together towards the front of the plane, able to stare longingly into the business class area whenever an air stewardess moved the curtain.

Bella and Sam were seated together at the back of the plane, Sam graciously taking the middle seat so Bella did not have to sit next to a man three times her size. In the middle of the plane, Heather and Wanda sat together, Heather occupying the aisle seat while Wanda sat next to a young woman who was fixated with the window next to her.

Heather kept a close eye on the woman next to Wanda, and the second she drifted off to sleep, she took her chance to talk to Wanda. "Is it true what you said earlier?" she asked, surprising Wanda with the harsh desperation in her voice. "You have telepathy, you can read minds?"

Wanda seemed surprised at the question, and furrowed her brow, before eventually, she nodded in response to Heather's question. "Yes," Wanda answered. "I said that yesterday when we were talking on the balcony."

Heather almost cried out loud in a mixture of relief and surprise. The noise rose in the back of her throat like a whimper that had cut out halfway. She reached out and grabbed Wanda's arm with a shaky hand, her fingernails digging into the skin of Wanda's forearm.

"How does it work? Tell me everything. Please, I need to know, I can't stop it," Heather begged, her voice nothing more than a whisper. "There's nothing I can do, blocking it out doesn't work anymore. The voices are getting too much, I have no way to stop them. Please, help me."

"What are you talking about?" Wanda asked, her voice tremored and fearful. "What do you mean?"

"Telepathy, mental manipulation, mind reading, whatever the hell it is you want to call it. I need to know how to make it stop, I need to know how to control it," Heather explained, calming her voice long enough to deliver a somewhat intelligible answer.

"You – You have telepathy?" Wanda's voice rose in surprise, loud enough that Heather shushed her harshly, prompting Wanda to lower the volume of her voice. "You can read minds?"

"That's the thing, I can't," Heather expressed, her voice cracking in anguish. "I can hear people's thoughts, but not by choice. I can't control it, I can't block them out. The only way I can stop the voice is by taking these."

As she spoke, Heather pulled out a medicine bottle. Wanda recognised it as the bottle Heather had taken a tablet from after she had collapsed during their encounter with CRU. As she stared at the bottle, the puzzle fell into place and she began to piece together the information.

Wanda made eye contact with Heather, and never before had she seen such excessive and raw desperation trapped in her gaze. She was in pain, and only now was she letting that pain escape to the surface. Wanda was suddenly conscious of the fact that she must've been the only person Heather had ever told about her hidden ability.

"I don't know how they work," Heather explained, her voice a whisper as she turned the medicine bottle in her hands. "All I know, is that when I take one of these tablets, the voices stop. I've been taking one a day, every morning, ever since I was six years old."

"Axert," Wanda read the label out loud to herself, staring at the white cylinder curiously. "Almotriptan. What kind of medication is this?"

"It's for migraines, and honestly, I'm not sure why it stops me from hearing people's thoughts," Heather answered. "When I went to the doctor's with severe headaches they thought it was cluster headaches, and they gave me a prescription for this. They couldn't give me the full treatment because I was only six, but I didn't complain, it worked at the time and that was all that mattered to me."

"But it's not working properly anymore," Wanda stated. "The medication has been wearing off too quickly, and you get bombarded with the thoughts of whoever is around you at the time. And you can't block them out."

Heather nodded, tears starting to fall from her eyes. "It started about three months ago, and it's been happening more and more ever since. I have no idea what to do. I can't handle hearing everyone's thoughts at once. They scream inside my head, and it hurts. It hurts so much."

Wanda moved her hand to place it on Heather's shoulder, but inches away from touching her, Wanda pulled her hand back and clenched her fist, looking away from her guiltily. What could she say or do to help? She could do nothing. Answering Heather's desperate pleas would just make things worse. But she had to, keeping it from her would be cruel.

"I'm sorry," Wanda spoke hesitantly, nearly wincing when she saw Heather's shoulders drop upon hearing the crestfallen tone in her apology. The way she spoke those two simple words immediately communicated to Heather that there was no hope.

"My abilities, they don't work the same way yours do," Wanda told her. "I can't tell you how to block out people's voices because I've never needed to. I don't block out the voices, I chose when I want to hear people's thoughts by focusing on them."

"So there's no hope," Heather summarised, her voice draining of emotion with every syllable that escaped from her mouth.

"No, Phoenix might be able to-"

Heather interrupted her. "Phoenix doesn't know any more than I do. She's never encountered any form of telepathy before meeting you, and she doesn't even know I have this ability. You were the only chance I had of understanding what to do. But I guess that didn't work out."

Wanda moved to say something but stopped as she watched Heather abruptly rise to her feet and begin walking down the narrow aisle of the plain, heading for the bathroom. As Heather walked, she bit down hard on her lip, the pain distracting her from crying. She clutched the medicine bottle tightly in her hands, her knuckles white.

Almost immediately upon locking the bathroom door, Heather broke. She stood in the small space, leaning most of her body over the miniscule sink. The bathroom was so cramped, she was surprised that she had room to breathe.

Closing the lid of the toilet, Heather sat down, sobbing quietly as she held the medicine bottle out in front of her. 11 years. For 11 years she had been living with the pain and only now was it backfiring. Why now? After everything, why was her own mind betraying her. A memory of her mother unexpectedly wove its way into Heather's subconsciousness.

 _They stared at her. They always stared when she went anywhere with her Maji. She always told Heather that it was because of her colour, people didn't trust anything but white. Heather never liked the judging people, with the nasty sneers and evil eyes._

 _The streets were crowded, they were always crowded. She clutched her mother's hand for support as they moved through the sea of tall strangers. She hated the smell, it was a dirty smell, the smell of smoke and rubbish. She wanted to go inside and escape._

 _As they reached a bench on the side of the street, her Maji had her sit down and bent down in front of her, stroking her hair comfortingly. She stared into her mother's warm brown eyes, framed by a soft face, and beautiful brown skin, matching her eyes in warmth._

" _Baby it's just a few more blocks," her Maji sympathised, speaking sweetly. Her accent was strong, but Heather understood her perfectly well. "Does your arm still hurt?" when Heather shook her head, her Maji smiled. "I told you the stinging would be gone by the time you woke up. And the good news is, you only have to have a flu shot once a year."_

 _Heather made a face of disgust and shook her head fiercely, repulsed at the idea of any more needles coming anywhere near her. Her Maji laughed, a sweet laugh, like the soft chiming of bells. Taking her mother's hand, Heather began walking once again._

 _Heather had once pricked her finger on her grandmother's sewing needle. She remembered the sharp pain, remembered it well enough to recognise the pain that struck her in the side of her head. It was thousands of needles, all stabbing her in her head all at once._

 _Heather cried out and clutched her mother for support. She was able to recall a lot of things from that incident, but one thing Heather could never remember what exactly she had said to her mother, but whatever it was, caused her mother to pick up her daughter, and rush to the nearest hospital._

 _Terror, horror, fear. She saw it on their faces, she heard it in their thoughts. The people on the street, the doctors, her parents. To them, she was a freak. She was something wrong. She'd never heard the words spoken out loud, but as she sat next to her mother in the doctor's office, she heard it clearly in her mind._

 _Her father never spoke of the incident, never uttering a single word about it, but her mother, Heather heard her whispering. Dangerous. Cursed. Matangi. The god's are angry. It made things confusing for Heather, when she realised that her mother both loved and feared her._

Heather clutched the pill bottle so tightly she thought for a minute she might crush the plastic container. She let out a choked sob, the noise drawn out in a sustained whimper. She was all that she feared. A freak. A monster. The weapon of a malicious God looking to punish humanity.

With a shaky hand, Heather removed the lid from the bottle. She stared at the small white pills in the bottom, and every second she spent staring into the bottle, the more the pills beckoned to her with the promise of relieving her pain.

Anything to relieve the pain.

Heather slid three pills into her hand, and swallowed all of them.

* * *

Almost immediately after they made it through Customs, the mobile phone in Bella's back pocket started ringing. She went to answer it, but Heather snatched it from her hands and answered the call herself. Bella mistook Heather's smile as an expression of relief for being back in their own country.

Heather listened intently to the caller, before she addressed the group standing around her expectantly. Crowds of people, having disembarked from their flights, pushed past them in an eager rush to go home, or continue moving toward their next destination.

"It's Phoenix," Heather announced. She continued listening, but something Phoenix said caused Heather's smile to fall away, and she frowned, her eyes finding Bella's. "She wants to talk to you. Something about specific instructions."

Heather made no attempt to hide the expression of disappointment as she handed the phone over to Bella, clutching it in her hands for just a second too long before she let go of it. Bella took the phone and hesitantly rose it to her ear, unsure of why Phoenix was asking for her.

"Phoenix, hi," Bella addressed her, turning her back to the group behind her. "What is it?"

"Can you feel it?" Phoenix questioned, her voice quiet, as if she were whispering a secret. "There's something off with the link. The mental link. Something's out of place. I can still feel you and the others, but it's almost like something's disrupting the signal."

"I-uh," Bella stammered. She had been caught off guard by the first thing Phoenix had said, she'd barely had time to process her concerns about the link. "No, I can't feel anything off. But - no, hold on." Bella paused, delving deep into her mind, seeking the connection she shared with the other Experiments. "It's there, but it feels...murky. I'd barely even noticed. What does it mean?"

"It could mean anything," Phoenix answered, the uncertainty clear in her voice. "Is everyone ok on your end?"

Bella glanced over her shoulder at the other Experiments. "Everyone's fine as far as I can tell," Bella replied, he focus drifting to Heather who seemed captivated with the wall. "I can keep an eye on things for you, but what do you want me to say to the others?"

"For now, don't say anything. We might run the risk of damaging the link even further, besides, it'll cause unnecessary fear and panic, and that's the last thing we need," Bella heard Phoenix sigh on the other end of the line. "Our focus right now is the mission."

"Right," Bella agreed, nodding vigorously even though Phoenix couldn't see her. "What's our next move?"

"I need you to listen to me carefully. I've left a car for you in LAX's short term parking," Phoenix explained. "I'm going to guide you through where to find the car but once you have it, it's up to you to make your own way around LA. I can't tell you where to go, because I might risk my own location."

"You don't have to explain yourself Phoenix, we understand," Bella's immediate reaction to reassure Phoenix momentarily distracted her from the instructions Phoenix had laid out. "Carver is psychotic, and he's not going to stop until he captures you. You need to stay hidden from CRU, for your own safety."

"My safety has nothing to do with it, my primary concern is our team," Phoenix corrected her. "At least one member of CRU will no doubt be tailing you wherever you go. Carver knows that there's a chance you might reveal my location, and he's reached the point where he's exhausting every lead he has in order to find me. If we meet up, then it will give CRU incentive to attack, and one of you could get caught in the crossfire."

Bella bit her lip. "I hate it when you do that," she commented, she wasn't angry, she was beyond the point of fury. Bella spoke calmly, her smooth voice echoing with unresolved sadness. "When you devalue your own life. Don't you realise what you mean to us Phoenix? What it would do to us if we ever lost you."

Bella heard nothing on the other end of the phone. There wasn't even a crackle of breath, the silence was empty and hollow. Eventually, Phoenix's voice echoed within it. "In the far right corner of the short term parking, you'll find a black van its license plate is 4GNO438. You'll find the keys taped to the top of the back left wheel."

She hung up without saying another word, leaving Bella to stare down at the phone, hating herself for opening her mouth. Seeing her team standing several metres away, she smiled distantly and approached them confidently, even though her mind was swimming with fears and uncertainties.

"Why did she want to talk to you specifically?" Heather immediately questioned the second Bella returned, a sliver of fear in her otherwise calm voice.

"She told me how to find the car she left here for us. I assume she told me because I'm the only person here who's legally allowed to drive," Bella answered truthfully, to some degree. For the moment, she agreed with Phoenix's decision not to share what they were feeling through the link.

Heather paused for a moment, looking Bella up and down before she nodded in acceptance of her answer. "So where is it?"

"Short term parking," Bella answered. "She gave me a description of what it looks like, and where to find it, so it shouldn't take us too long."

Josh frowned as he picked his bag up and swung it over his shoulder. "Why has she left a car for us?" He questioned. "It's risky, she could be putting herself in danger."

"She probably has a reason behind it," Sam suggested as he picked up his own bag, Bella's and Wanda's in both hands. "Don't matter anyway. Phoenix knows how to stay hidden when she needs to. CRU don't have much chance of finding her."

Bella nodded in agreement and led the group towards LAX short term parking, following the signs and fighting through the crowds. As they walked, they stayed close together for fear of being lost in a sea of people. Wanda walked directly beside Bella, their arms centimetres from touching.

"Phoenix thinks that CRU are following us doesn't she?" Wanda questioned.

"Yeah, she seems certain that they are," Bella answered, and after she spoke, she hesitated and looked at Wanda in confusion. "Did you just read my mind?"

"I could tell you were hiding something," Wanda stated matter-of-factly. "But I found more than I was expecting. Redfern was right, your emotions are rouge elements, because whenever I look into any of your minds, everything floods to the surface."

"What do you mean everything?" Bella demanded.

"You all have a deep personal secret. No matter how much you try to hide it, I've seen the things about yourself that you all refuse to share," Wanda answered, distantly, almost as if she wasn't controlling the words she spoke. "You haven't realised your secret yet. But it's there, clear as glass."

Bella's expression was sour as she pursed her lips and flared her nostrils, making sure to keep her eyes trained ahead of her. She was worried that if she looked over at Wanda, she would slap her across the face. "You don't have any right to go through my head," she hissed quietly. "Reading people's minds is invasive and disgusting. If you ever do it to me again, I'm not going to bother controlling my anger."

Their conversation escaped to the person walking behind them, and Heather felt her legs falter slightly.

"I'm sorry, I was just concerned about-" Wanda made an attempt to apologise but was cut off by Bella.

"I don't care what your excuse is!" Bella snapped harshly. "Just…keep out of my head."

They had reached the short-term carpark, bringing Bella and Wanda's conversation to a sharp halt. Bella stormed away from Wanda and began navigating the rows of cars, searching for the one Phoenix had described to her. In the far corner of the carpark, she found it, and whistled to catch the attention of the others.

The black van was new, sporting California number plates, and a shiny paint job that looked extremely recent. The windows were tinted, and the way the van loomed over them looked menacing. Bella opened the doors, and gasped when she saw the interior.

"At least now we know why Phoenix took the risk in leaving it here for us," she commented.


	18. The Capture

**A/N: I'm not entirely sure what to say. To answer your questions, I don't have a good excuse as to why I haven't uploaded in such a long time. You deserve honesty, and the truth is that I lost confidence. I lost confidence in my writing, I lost confidence in this story and I also lost a lot of motivation along the way. Don't worry about me, I am ok, and words cannot express how sorry I am that I didn't live up to the promises I made. I won't make excuses for myself, and I won't be making anymore promises. You deserve honesty. I will finish this story, however long it takes. The future of this series is uncertain, but I will keep you updated. I will try my best to continue, you deserve that much. Please, accept this offering of the extremely late chapter 18, and as always, don't forget to read, review and enjoy.**

* * *

"I don't wanna know," Josh repeated for about the fifth time, shaking his head at the interior of the 'van' Phoenix had acquired for them.

The vehicle was split by a divider placed directly behind the front seat, the only connection to the back of the van was a small window that could be opened like a slot. The front of the van containing the dashboard and the driver and passenger seats looked normal. Relatively normal at least, considering the sleek, polished dashboard that indicated the vehicle was a newer model.

Behind the divider, was the opposite of normal. A long seat ran along the left side of the van, the black leather cushioning smelt new, as if it had only just been installed. Across from the seat on the right hand side of the van, was a large bench, holding three monitors, held in their position on the bench by large metal units, screwed into the bench and the wall.

In the drawers underneath the bench, Mark had found a variety of high-tech gear, including cameras, microphones, walkie talkies, and communication devices. It was obvious to them by that time, what kind of vehicle that Phoenix had left for them.

A surveillance van. Bella was driving a surveillance van around Los Angeles city, and she was encountering a few issues with it.

For a start, the van itself was much like a tank, and Bella had to sit on the edge of her seat to reach the accelerator and the brake. Not only that, it was a manual, and Bella didn't have a lot of experience with the clutch or the gears. At every red light, she stalled it, which in the middle of LA, only drew more attention to their already out of place vehicle.

Phoenix hadn't supplied them with any further instructions on what to do after they'd found the truck. Bella worked off her instincts, and what Phoenix had taught them about espionage, but there were far too many things going on in her mind.

What Phoenix said, what Wanda said, how to operate a manual, their upcoming plan and where they would stay for the night. All factors that Bella had to comprehend as she drove the hectic streets of LA. Her focus shifted to the mental link, and she focused hard in an attempt to establish the connection with Phoenix.

It was there, the link to Phoenix was as strong as it had ever been. Bella realized, the problem wasn't with the link altogether, it was one particular person that was out of sync. Bella searched the strands, branching out in her mind to see the links connecting her to Mark, Sam, Heather and Josh. She found it, the damaged strand. As she tried to grasp it, there was a shout from next to her.

"Bella!" Heather screeched in a panic.

Forced back into the present, Bella realized that she had just ran a red light, narrowly missing a truck coming from their right. Foot hard to the accelerator, Bella sped out of the intersection, swerving to avoid a car that was turning ahead of them. Weaving around the car, Bella breathed heavily once she realized they had escaped the path of danger.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked, his hand on her shoulder in concern.

"I'm fine," Bella answered him in a shaky voice, her left hand clutching the steering wheel tightly while her right hand had a death grip on the gear shift. "I just, lost my concentration for a minute."

"What's going on?" the slot in the divider opened to reveal Josh, who addressed the three people in the front seat.

"I ran a red light," Bella confessed. "I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

"You know, we have road rules for a reason," Mark's face replaced Josh's at the window slot as he made a snide remark.

"Hey," Sam turned his head to look at Mark and he spoke firmly. "Every time you get behind the wheel of a car you cause more property damage than the Battle of New York. You've got no room to talk."

Mark scoffed dramatically. "At least I've never run a red light."

"You've never even got far enough out of the driveway to get close to a red light."

"You're one to talk, you-"

Mark's counter argument was cut short as Heather slammed the slot closed. "Is it me, or is Mark being more of a dickbag than usual?" she questioned dryly as she settled back into her seat, ignoring the muffled complaints from the other side of the divider.

"Glad to know I'm not the only one who noticed that," Sam commented sarcastically, banging his fist on the slot for good measure.

"You're the one that keeps getting into fights with him," Heather reminded him. "Indulging him only makes it worse. You know what Mark's like, his first response to conflict is to fight everything and everyone. But with Phoenix gone, he seems to be…unravelling."

"Mark's not the only one who cares about her you know," Sam snapped, his voice becoming cold without warning.

Heather rolled her eyes. "I know how you and Mark feel about Phoenix. Mark's just significantly more terrible at dealing with his emotions."

Bella felt like she was intruding on their conversation. She drove silently, her eyes focused on the road while her hearing focused on the two people sitting next to her. It wasn't exactly a private or personal conversation, everything they were saying she already knew, but she remained silent anyway.

"Do you think?" Sam began, but hesitated. For a second he was afraid to ask the question. "Do you think I have a chance? When this is all over of course."

Heather shrugged and made a noise of uncertainty. "Maybe," her voice increased in pitch as she drew out the vowels on that single word. "I don't even know if Phoenix sees people that way. Or if she even understands that sort of stuff."

Sam nodded, clearly disappointed, but not surprised, by Heather's answer. Bella couldn't help herself, the words slipped from her mouth before she had a chance to think. "Phoenix has more of an emotional range than you think."

Bella's comment seemed to improve Sam's mood, but Heather turned to Bella with her eyes narrowed in suspicion. She was staring at Bella in the odd way, like she could see everything that Bella wasn't saying. She hated when Heather looked at her like that.

Despite his best efforts, the smile on Sam's face wasn't going away anytime soon. He addressed the two girls with a more serious tone despite his grin. "We need to focus on what we're doing right now. Bel, how far away are we from that hotel you found on that weird website with the owl?"

"About a couple of minutes," Bella answered. "Phoenix didn't give me any other instructions, and we have no way to contact her. I think we should just wait it out until Phoenix contacts us."

"And CRU?" Heather questioned. "What about them?"

"I don't know," Bella shrugged. "Phoenix said they might be following us, but I think they're pretty focused on finding her, so theoretically, we should be safe."

* * *

Carver crouched, his knees low to the ground as he watched the road underneath his feet. There were no tire tracks, foot prints, not even any blood. No trace. Nothing. She was gone. Once again, she'd slipped out of his grasp.

A torch light found it's way into his line of sight, coming from behind and angled at the ground in front of him. There was a crunching of feet as the figure approached, walking across the dry dirt on the edge of the road before their feet found the tarmac.

"Man at the front desk says they got here around noon," Raoul informed him. "Got straight off the plane, grabbed a car, and took off towards the city. We missed them by about 12 hours Carver, they'd be long gone by now."

"No," Carver hissed, rising to his feet slowly. "She's still here I know she is. I know what she's after. Check security footage of the city, find the car she took."

"Jasper's already done it Carver, and she found nothing," Raoul responded. "Phoenix and the Soldier are in the wind. We never taught her to disappear like that. This level of espionage training must come directly from the Black Widow herself."

Carver's rage showed in his arms and neck, as the EXTREMIS caused his veins to begin glowing, standing out brightly in the darkness of night. "The Black Widow," Carver hissed. "She filled her head with lies and manipulation. Phoenix was never meant to be a spy."

"Carver," Raoul spoke his name cautiously as his veins grew even brighter, EXTREMIS increasing in power along with his anger. "Don't get too worked up, remember, it's still unstable. If you lose your cool, then you lose your life as well.

Carver clenched his fists and began breathing in and out deeply until the EXTREMIS glow faded. "What's the point of this stuff if it can't even help me find her," Carver spat. "You told me it would make me stronger, but it's not helping me get her back."

"Trust me Carver," Raoul smirked, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "When we do find her, you'll be glad to have the power."

The glow faded from his veins, and he scowled down the road, eyes fixated on the city lights of Los Angeles in the distance. He could feel her, could sense her presence out there. She was here. He knew it. She had to be. There was only one option left, only one way to find her.

"Sir, what are our orders?" Journey questioned as she approached. "Phoenix is nowhere to be found, do we retreat to Pluto and wait for her to show up?"

"No," Carver responded. "I'm not waiting. Gather the others, we still have an advantage over her."

Journey nodded and shouted to the others, calling for them to assemble with Carver. Seeing the manic glee in Carver's expression, Raoul smiled, realizing Carver's plan. Carver beckoned for the others to stand in a semicircle formation before him. Carver looked down at his right arm, staring at the Phoenix tattoo, before grinning at his team.

"As you all know, I lost someone very special to me," Carver addressed them, stroking his tattoo while he spoke. "I was led to believe that SHIELD killed her, when in reality they did something much worse. They took her beauty and mangled it, turning her into one of theirs. She suffered a fate worse than death. She has been led astray by the very same people that destroyed our lives. It's up to us to save her. To make her beautiful once again."

"I should thank SHIELD really, because their influence on her is what gives us the opportunity to find her again. You see, Phoenix, has a weakness," Carver paused, making eye contact with each member of his team, before cocking his eyebrows. "She has people she cares about. And that weakness, is how we're going to get her back."

Grabbing Raoul's shoulder, Carver pulled him closer. "Contact Leda," he ordered. "I think it's time to put that ragtag bunch of teenagers to good use."

* * *

"A hush falls over the crowd," Josh whispered silently. A playing card in both hands, Josh very carefully inched closer to the card pyramid, keeping his breathing minimal as he slowly put the final cards into place at the top. He released them, holding his breath for several seconds to see if they would fall.

The circle that had formed around Josh and his card pyramid held their breaths as well. Bella and Heather were holding each others hands, while Josh had his hands together in a prayer motion in front of his mouth. Wanda stood over Josh's shoulders, a stunned expression on her face.

After enough time had passed, and the cards did not fall down, and the room erupted in cheers. Mark tried his best to ignore them from his position on the furthest bed, but Josh came running over to him, shouting in triumph as he grabbed his shoulders."

"Bro! I did it! I'm the greatest!" he shouted.

"You stacked like five cards in one big triangle," Mark said, making his annoyance clear through his icy tone. "Do you want a packet of fucking Cheetos for your efforts?"

"Still in a shitty mood I see," Josh commented, briefly thinking back to several hours ago when he had spent far too long in the back of the van listening to Mark's complaining. "You know I have done some serious thinking, and I think I've found the root of all your problems."

Mark stared at him for a few seconds. "And what would that be?" he prompted him.

"You have a brain boner," Josh explained, his voice serious.

Mark was quiet for an eerie amount of time, waiting to see if Josh was joking. When he realised that it wasn't a joke, Mark titled his head. "What the fuck is a brain boner?"

"It's a metaphorical boner," Josh explained, his voice still ridiculously serious. "Your want to bang someone, and your fantasy is messing with your rational thinking and common sense. But hey, at least your dick isn't giving you away."

Mark's voice rose several pitches as he shook his head and made a face. "What do you mean? I don't – I'm not – I mean – no – um – you've got it all wrong."

Josh stared, amazed that Mark was trying to cover it up. "You might as well wear a neon sign that says 'I want to kiss Phoenix Romanoff'. Actually, here's a better idea, get a tattoo on your forehead that reads 'I want to make sweet love to Phoenix, while grasping her breasts and doing inappropriate things to her mouth.' Yep, that would be less subtle than what you've been doing."

Mark spluttered. "No!" his protest came out sounding more like a high pitched whine. "And ew, by the way."

"Hey I'm just being poetic," Josh threw his hands in the air. "But back to my point, your crush is getting in the way of everything. So when this is all over you have two options to cease your asshole ways. Option Number 1, you can actually man up and talk to Phoenix about your feelings. But since you're a lil' bitch, that really only leaves option number two."

"Which is?" Mark demanded with a sigh.

"You bury those feelings," Josh's voice became dark. "You lock those feelings in a box, cover that box in concrete, place it at the bottom of a twenty-foot ditch in the middle of the Albanian Forest, and cover it with dirt so you never, ever, find those feelings again."

As Heather walked near them, moving from one side of the room to the other, she managed to over hear the two talking about a ditch and a forest, and kept walking faster. She made it to the window, and as she saw the city of LA before her, she gained a new appreciation for the city. It wasn't exactly the prettiest view she'd ever seen, but it felt welcoming.

Maybe it was because she felt calmer. Almost at peace for the first time since the first headache. Maybe this was the solution, the thing to solve all her problems. So wrapped up in her own joy, Heather didn't notice when Wanda stood next to her.

"What have you done?" Wanda demanded in a soft, disappointed voice.

Heather turned to face her with a smile. "I've fixed it," Heather answered proudly. "No more headaches, no more thoughts. Peace at last."

"You're overdosing," Wanda reached out, and wrenched the pill bottle from Heather's grasp. Shaking the bottle, her face fell upon hearing that there was a significantly smaller amount of pills. "How many have you taken in the last twelve hours?"

"As many as I've needed to," Heather responded.

"Heather this will kill you," Wanda stared at her in horror, her hands falling to her side.

"I don't care what it does to me, as long as I don't hear them. Now, give me those pills back."

Heather's hand was outstretched in Wanda's direction, but the other girl refused to budge. Holding the pill bottle behind her back, Wanda shook her head. The fury clear in her expression, Heather's rage quickly seeped onto her features. She was about to take a step forward, until the lights switched off.

"Bell was that you?" Sam's voice floated out of the dark.

"No," Bella sounded confused as she answered. "I had nothing to do with this."

"Power outage?"

"It can't be, the building across the street has power."

"Maybe a fuse blew."

A loud bang disrupted the conversation, causing them all to turn to the window, where the noise originated from. There was a circular mark on the window where something had hit it. Heather approached slowly to inspect it, as a dark shape hit the window again, causing the same banging noise that had disrupted them earlier.

"What is it?" Wanda's frightened whisper came from behind her.

"Heather don't," Sam warned.

She didn't listen, and moved closer the window. She looked out of it, her breath fogging the glass as she stared at the buildings across the street. The room had fallen quiet, aside from the shaky breathing behind her. Something compelled her to move even closer, until she was inches from the glass.

A face appeared.

Heather leaped backwards in shock, throwing herself out of the line of fire in just enough time as the figure smashed the window, sending glass shattering inwards. One hand reached over the broken glass, gripping the window pane, and leaping through what had once been their window.

The dark made it hard to make out their features, but there was no mistaking her emotionless, dark eyes.

Leda.

"GET OUT!" Heather screamed to her friends

The Experiments bolted for the door in a panic. Wanda hesitated, preparing to take a stance against Leda, but Heather grabbed her arm. Wanda still managed to get a shot in, and threw her arm in Leda's direction, throwing Leda backwards into the wall.

Out in the dark hallway, the ragged breathing of the Experiments made their fear evident. Sam leaned against the door, and after several seconds, a force on the other side of the door collided into it, and nearly pushed the door open, until Sam pressed his full weight against it in order to keep them back.

"What do we do? What do we do?" Mark's frantic voice broke through the chaos.

There was another bang against the door, nearly throwing Sam forward once again. Wanda and Josh came to his aid, adding their weight to hold the door closed.

At the end of the hallway, a strange orange glow appeared, that took the shape of a human figure. Emerging further out of the darkness Carver took several, slow steps forward, every part of his body and veins glowing orange. He took one look at The Experiments, and smiled.

"Run," Heather couldn't manage more than a whisper, her voice breaking at the sight of him. Swallowing the lump in her throat, Heather managed to speak loud enough for her friends to hear. "Split up, shake them off your tail, and get to the rendezvous point. GO NOW, RUN!"

As they scattered, Carver's cackling laughter followed them in an echo as they ran out of sight. "YOU CAN'T RUN FROM ME! THE DOORS ARE LOCKED, THERE'S NO WAY OUT OF THIS BUILDING!" he stopped to draw in a deep breath that rattled around the hallways. "PHOENIX IS THE FIRE, BUT I AM THE FUEL TO THE FLAME!"

Once in the stairwell, Mark quickly lost sight of The Experiments one by one. They had to run and stay hidden until they managed to get the doors open. Heather would give the signal when it was safe to get to the ground floor and escape, but she wasn't confident, none of them were.

Left on his own, Mark found himself running up and down every inch of the building, and each time he entered and exited the stairwell, he continually found himself becoming more and more lost. Mark began losing not only of direction, but time.

Still no sign of CRU, but he heard their drifting voices. Shouts, war cries and threats. Carver sounded like he was moving through walls, and every time Mark heard his maniacal laughter and screams coming closer, he would physically feel his heart stop. He kept shouting about Phoenix, describing her in ways that made Mark's insides churn. He screamed relentlessly about purification, submission and perfection.

Holed up on god knows what level, Mark hid behind a corner near the elevators, beginning to breath normally as Carver's voice began to recede. But as Carver's voice faded, there were soft footsteps that grew louder. Mark had no weapons, nothing to defend himself with, so he readied his fists as the footsteps reached his hiding spot.

He jumped out, only to find himself face to face with Sam, who held up his hands in defence once he saw Mark's fists coming towards him. It was hard for them to see each other in the dark, but their eyes adjusted to the lack of light just enough in order for them to identify each other.

"I thought you were CRU," Mark whispered with a hiss.

"No, I just managed to slip past Owen a couple of floors up from here," Sam informed him, sounding out of breath from a combination of exhaustion and fear. "I barely made it past Carver in the stairwell, it looked like he just came from this floor so I thought I'd hide out here."

Mark nodded as Sam stood next to him and rested his head against the wall. Mark watched him for a little while, and he wasn't sure if it was the events of earlier, or Carver's creepy Shakespearian monologues about Phoenix, but Mark was compelled in that moment to talk to Sam about everything that had been bothering him for a seemingly endless amount of time.

"You like her don't you?" Mark asked. "Phoenix."

Sam slowly turned his head. "Now? Are you kidding me? This is when you decide to bring up this topic of conversation? While were being hunted by a group of psychos?"

"Yes," Mark answered hotly. "I wanna do this now. We're both facing potential demise, and I want to settle this now in case either one of us dies in the next couple of minutes."

Sam sighed, clenching his teeth to stop the noise from being too loud. "Yes, I like Phoenix," he admitted, his voice cracking slightly. "And I know you feel the same way about her, so where does that leave us?"

"Well I'm not going to hide my feelings anymore," Mark announced confidently.

"Wait, you were trying to hide your feelings?" Sam's eyes widened in surprise.

"Ha," Mark made a sarcastic noise as he shook his head disapprovingly at Sam's comment. "Listen, we're a team and fighting over Phoenix is going to cause more problems than it solves. But that doesn't mean I'm going to back down. So how about we both try our hand, and see what happens?"

Sam was silent for an eerily long amount of time. "I wasn't expecting that," he spoke after a while. "But I agree with you. I've read enough Teen Romance Novels to know that love triangles are a pain in the neck."

"You read Romance novels?"

A loud shouting erupted nearby as they heard the stairwell door on their floor was flung open, and out of it came a chorus of loud footsteps. Mark and Sam immediately fell quiet and inched around the corner, holding their breaths as the footsteps drew closer.

"You take the left, I'll take the right, and we both run for our lives," Mark suggested quietly.

"Good plan," Sam nodded.

* * *

"Where are they?" Josh's asked, rubbing his shoulders, despite the fact that it was summer in LA, and even the nights were hot.

"They'll get here," Heather tried to reassure him with a confident voice.

"Heather, you gave the signal to escape nearly half and hour ago," Bella reminded her. "The longer we wait for them, the more chance we have of being found by CRU."

"Five more minutes," Heather begged. "Half of our team is missing, we can't leave."

"Wait, I think I see them," Josh moved to the front of the van they were waiting beside and lifted his head up.

Two figures ran towards them down the dark street, speeding up once they saw the three people waiting for them by the surveillance van. Sam was exhausted, and gratefully embraced Bella. Wanda breathed deeply in relief as she leaned against the van. Happy to see her, Heather patted her shoulder.

"Wait," Josh's smile fell as he surveyed the group. "Where's Mark?"

Sam's head snapped up. "He's not with you guys?" Sam demanded.

"No," Heather shook her head. "We haven't seen him."

Josh nodded, bitting his lip. "We'll have to wait a bit longer than, he'll be here. He would've made it out. He had to have made it out."

Wanda lifted her head, a horrific expression of realisation on her face. "No," her voice was heavy. "I can feel it. They have him. CRU have Mark."


	19. The Reveal

**A/N: I've got a long update for you folks today. This story is nearly finished, and irregardless of my lack of motivation for the series, I am going to finish it...eventually. So in this chapter, there are quite a few revelations and reveals, hence the chapter title. Most are pretty obvious reveals, not gonna lie. So as always, don't forget to read, review and enjoy.**

* * *

Dawn was beginning to break, generating more light and scorching heat with every second that passed. Perched atop a ridge, Phoenix and the stranger kept low to the ground, keeping their cover behind several rocks. Below them, nestled into an incline toward Griffith Park, was a large complex. Grey, dull, and rectangular in shape, is resembled a concrete block more than it resembled a building.

"The place looks relatively deserted," Phoenix observed as she lowered the binoculars from her face and handed them to the stranger. "The only signs of life I can see are the security detail. They certainly look like Hydra, but there aren't any identifying symbols on their uniform. Are you sure Hydra still controls the building?"

"Trust me, this place is Hydra," the stranger informed her, taking the binoculars. "This place is being funded by one of the last power holders, who's grappling to pick up the pieces of the old organisation. There are also reports that a new Hydra has emerged locally, but from what I hear their organisation is primitive at best, I don't think they have anything to do with this place."

Phoenix scoffed. "I assume CRU's working for the old Hydra."

"Actually, no," the stranger countered. As Phoenix turned to look at him in confusion, he surprised himself by smiling slightly. The curve of his mouth felt almost natural, like his old self was trying to break through. "I've traced CRU's accounts, and it looks like they're working for the new faction."

"Then what the hell are they up to?" Phoenix murmured to herself, trying to find reasons for why CRU would align themselves with a newer version of Hydra.

"Maybe the head of the new faction has promised them something," the stranger suggested. "You allied yourself with the Avengers 18 months ago, if Carver was desperate to find you, don't you think he would've done it earlier."

"I've been off the radar since Doctor Blake died," Phoenix answered. "Hydra thought I'd been killed."

"There were also rumours that you had been taken in by the Avengers," the stranger added. "Carver will stop at nothing to find you Phoenix, that ruthlessness doesn't stay idle for 18 months. I think the old Hydra refused to let him search for you, and after the new faction emerged, they promised you to Carver as long as CRU defected to their faction."

Phoenix considered the stranger's suggestion for a moment before she shook her head. "Carver said he was at the LA base before he came to find me in London, the facts don't add up."

"The Pluto base doesn't have access to the Databank footage, only the Doctor's personal compound in Downtown LA has that kind of access."

Phoenix's moment of realisation was clear as her eyes widened. "If that's true, then this goes deeper than we thought," Phoenix whispered. "We might be in the wrong place; CRU might not be here."

"At least if they do show up, we're ready for them."

"Hmm. Are you sure that surveillance equipment you put around the guard building will work?" Phoenix questioned as she glanced down briefly at the receiver by her side. "Not that I'm doubting you or anything."

"They'll work," the stranger responded firmly. "Are you sure CRU will get your message?"

"If they show up, Carver will understand," Phoenix answered confidently.

"It's not a good plan," the stranger repeated for probably the seventeenth time since Phoenix came up with the idea. "It puts our location at risk, not to mention it jeopardises the operation."

"CRU knows we're here already, it's not like it matters," Phoenix defended herself. "Besides, I need to give Carver something to chase after. As long as he focuses his attention on me, he'll stay away from my team."

The stranger had his eyes fixed on Phoenix, examining her profile as he watched her thoughts go to the team she had been separated from. "You haven't told them your plan with the surveillance van have you?" he questioned.

"They won't like it," Phoenix replied. "They don't like being kept away from the action. I was going to confer with Wanda, get her to somehow find a way to keep them on surveillance duty in the van, they won't do it willingly, so it's the only way."

"They want to help you Phoenix."

"I want them to be safe…I need them to be safe."

The pair fell silent, Phoenix's eyes drifted back to the binoculars in her hand as she returned to surveillance. "Movement," Phoenix announced, cutting the stranger off before he could say anything as she spotted a black van turn off down the restricted access road that led directly to the complex. "The vehicle's unmarked. No plates."

Phoenix picked up the receiver, spending several seconds reconfiguring it until she had the right frequency, while the stranger's hands instinctively moved for his gun, before he tensed, and grabbed the binoculars from Phoenix instead.

"They're heading for the gate," the stranger announced.

"Got it," Phoenix nodded as the static noise coming from the receiver transitioned to the conversations of the two men on security detail within the small guard office at the front gate. "They can't hear us on the other side of this thing can they?"

The stranger shook his head, a strange action considering he still held the binoculars tightly to his face. Phoenix held the receiver close to her face, listening intently for when the new arrivals in the van would make their appearance.

Phoenix didn't need the receiver for identification, she didn't even need the binoculars. She recognised him the second he stepped out of the vehicle. Immediately she tensed, and shrunk lower to the ground, an irrational fear of being spotted took over her actions for a brief second.

"It's them," Phoenix whispered. "CRU."

The stranger took his time examining the situation, before he confirmed Phoenix's statement with a nod. "The receiver," he reminded Phoenix as he watched her lower the receiver without realising her actions. Phoenix came to her senses at his words, and raised the receiver again just as the men began to speak.

"You don't have clearance to be here," it was one of the guards that spoke first, clearly addressing Carver who had approached the small building with rough confidence.

"Bullshit," Carver responded, Phoenix grimacing as she thought about the cocky grin he would be wearing on his face. "Get the boss out here, I've got a proposition for him."

"Boss ain't here Carver," another voice joined the conversation, a low pitched deep voice that resonated loudly. "How about this? After I kick your ass to the curbside, I'll drop him a line, let him know that your sorry ass came crawling back just like I predicted."

"Ah, Duke. Seasons change, but people don't," Carver snarked, the man's comment surprisingly left no mark in Carver's cocky attitude. For some reason he was in a good mood, which only furthered Phoenix's concern as she continued listening to the exchange take place.

"You call Malick and tell him I found my little bird, and she has a few friends that are just as special as her," Carver ordered. "Tell him, as long as he lets me keep her, I'll give him the others free of charge as long as he helps me catch them."

"You've been blindly chasing that girl for two years. Why the hell should I believe that you've found her?" Duke demanded.

"Your proof is right here on the front of this building," Carver answered. Though neither of them could see it from their distance, the stranger and Phoenix knew that Carver had placed his hand on the message Phoenix had left. "Tell me Duke, how long has this scorch mark been here?"

"Scorch mark?" Duke repeated, his confusion readable as his voice rose slightly in pitch. They watched as a tall man in a black uniform, exited the guard building and stood beside Carver. "It wasn't there yesterday I'll tell you that."

"A scorch mark, in the shape of a bird," Carver's voice was almost crooning. "So small, so faint, so...delicate. It was her, she was here."

"You say there are others, with the same abilities as her?" Duke's voice became serious and business like as he addressed Carver with his question. "How many?"

"There are five, each with an individual ability. They're powerful, and still young, between 17 and 18. I'm sure Malick would be able to have some fun with them," Carver answered, moving confidently towards the van behind him. "In fact, I've got one here for you now."

Immediately, one name sprung to Phoenix's mind, and she froze in fear. Her hands trembled, and she felt her heart begin to beat rapidly inside her chest. Carver pulled an unconscious figure from the van, their face covered by a hood, but Phoenix recognised their body shape.

"Mark," Phoenix whispered. "They have Mark."

She tried to leap to her feet, but the stranger grabbed her wrist and pulled her to the ground. "Carver knows we're watching him, that's why he pulled your friend out of the van before he got inside," the stranger warned. "If you run down there to save him, you'll get captured."

Phoenix nodded, and lowered herself slowly back into her original position, focusing her attention back to the receiver as Duke began inspecting Mark. "All right Carver," Duke tried to speak calmly, but the excitement was evident as he spoke. "You have a deal my friend. We'll use the boy as bait. You get your girl, and my boss will be able to add five powered people to Hydra's ranks."

"It's a win-win situation," Carver chuckled as the gate rose to allow their van into the compound. "Get your men ready. Capturing a Phoenix is a once in a lifetime opportunity."

Phoenix and the stranger shared a glance. "I'm sorry," the stranger offered some sympathy. "I know you don't want to put them in danger, but we need your team."

Phoenix nodded. She felt responsible for Mark being taken, but while guilt racked her body, a small part of her was almost relieved, that it wasn't the person she feared the most for.

* * *

Sam reached out and touched Bella's arm, the other girl flinching at his touch. "It's ok Bell," Sam reassured her. "We can do this."

Bella's gaze flicked to the others standing behind her, before she leaned in closer to Sam. "We're a mess," she whispered.

"We need to do this," Sam countered. "You know what Phoenix said, the longer we leave Mark, the more chance we have of losing him."

They watched the monitors in the back of the van, their cameras picking up all the footage of the compound ahead of them while they waited for the sun to go down. Phoenix's data drop gave them everything they needed to carry out the plan, except for morale.

Heather stood behind Bella, watching the monitor from a distance, until she felt her body begin to go numb. Her heart pounded impossibly fast in her chest, as light-headedness hit her sharply, sending her crumpling to the ground.

"She's in shock," Josh was the first to respond as he threw himself down on the ground next to her.

"No," Wanda spoke, shaking her head as she realised what was wrong.

"Then what else could it be?" Josh demanded.

"The consequences of a desperate act," Wanda answered.

Looking closer, Josh could see Heather breathing rapidly. Placing a hand on Heather's wrist to check her pulse, Josh almost jumped backwards when he felt her pulse pumping at five times the normal rate. He double checked by placing two fingers against her neck, and found the same thing.

"Her heart rate's way up," Josh exclaimed. "I need to check her blood pressure, Bella grab that bag over there."

Bella obeyed and retrieved the bag sitting at the back of the van, a little way behind Wanda. She thrust it in Josh's direction, and from within it he retrieved a device composed of an arm band connected through several wires to a rectangular panel.

"Bella hold out her arm," Josh ordered as he fumbled with untangling the device. He placed the arm band around Heather's upper right arm, and activated it, causing it to constrict around her arm. Once the device was done, it beeped twice. Josh's face fell when he read the results. "160 over 110."

"Is that bad?" Bella questioned, fearful as she watched Josh fumble around more, clearly in a panic.

"Very bad," Josh answered, and wrenched Wanda to her feet by grabbing her shoulders. "What the hell's going on? You knew! You knew something was wrong with Heather, and you said nothing! So you better start talking!"

"The tablets," Wanda answered quickly, gesturing to a pill bottle lying on the floor next to Heather. Josh accepted her answer and released her shoulders, grabbing the pill bottle in order to work out what Heather had taken. "I tried to stop her, I'm sorry," Wanda apologised.

"Sun down!" Sam shouted, giving them the signal that it was time to move.

"Oh god," Bella grabbed at her own hair, drawing in deep breaths. "What the hell are we going to do?"

"Heather can't move," Josh told her, gently lying Heather on her side while he spoke. "She's overdosed on Triptan medication. She needs to stay still while the medication leaves her system, too much movement or stress could send her into cardiac arrest. Someone will need to stay here to keep an eye on her as well."

"I'll stay," Wanda offered.

"But Phoenix needs both of you," Bella argued. "Without you, we have no way of getting out of the building."

"We need to move, and we need to move now," Sam pushed. "If Josh doesn't make it into the building in time, the plan will fall apart."

Josh looked to Bella, maintaining silent eye contact for nearly a minute before Bella caved. "Go," she urged him with a quiet voice.

* * *

Phoenix prepped the grappling gun while the stranger slung his rifle across his back. They stood in the blind spot of the camera mounted on the exterior of the west side of the building. Phoenix stared intently at the camera, waiting for Josh to give them the signal by turning it so they wouldn't be seen climbing the building.

The stranger signaled that the patrol would be on them shortly, but Phoenix signaled to wait, even though she was beginning to doubt that Josh would be able to give them the signal in enough time, so they could climb before they would be spotted.

Phoenix watched as the camera slowly directed its gaze to the left, allowing them their window of opportunity. Phoenix fired the grappling gun, the hook attaching itself silently to the space above the window that signified their point of entry.

The stranger went first, climbing the rope quickly, before Phoenix held the gun above her head and pressed the retract button, allowing her to ascend effortlessly to the window. Once inside, Phoenix immediately placed the grappling hook into a trash chute and nodded to the stranger.

Before they had a chance to move, they heard voices growing louder from the end of the hallway, and the stranger was forced to pull Phoenix into an adjacent room and move to the side of the door, their backs pressed against the wall as they waited for the guards to pass.

Phoenix glanced around the side of the door briefly, and once she ensured that they were gone, she motioned for the stranger to follow her as she stepped back into the hallway. Phoenix didn't stop moving, and carried on down the hallway, clearly seeking out a specific room.

"Now that we're inside, Josh should've signaled for Bella and Sam to make their way inside," Phoenix reminded the stranger, whispering as they walked. "Once Bella and Sam get to the control room and find where Mark's being held, Heather and Wanda will make their offensive attack. We need to find the journal before that happens."

"Then we need to hurry," the stranger said.

Phoenix turned the last corner and immediately moved to a locked door. The stranger stood a little way behind her, as she created a blue flame in her hand and held it against the lock, burning the metal until it melted and destroyed the lock completely.

"Someone will notice that," the stranger commented as they entered the room.

"I don't care," Phoenix responded, as she turned on the lights.

The office was simplistic, and covered in a layer of dust that indicated the room hadn't been touched in a while. In the far corner of the room, next to the desk containing neat stacks of paper, was a large silver safe with a simple dial lock on the front.

Ignoring the file cabinets and graphs pinned to the wall, Phoenix moved straight for the safe. The stranger noticed that the environment was making her tense, her hands shook slightly as she reached for the dial. He watched as she murmured a sequence of numbers under her breath; 2, 2, 0, 6, 1, 9, 4, 3.

"I know those numbers," the stranger muttered as the safe clicked open and Phoenix pulled out the only object sitting within the safe, a leather bound journal.

"It's the date that-"

"Steve Rogers became Captain America."

Phoenix turned to look up at the stranger. "How do you know that?" Phoenix questioned. "The details of Project Rebirth were top secret. The Doctor used to brag that he was one of the only people in the world who knew almost everything about the Project."

"He told me," the stranger answered before he could stop himself from speaking.

Before Phoenix could ask him any more questions, two things happened abruptly. First, alarms began to scream all around them, echoing through every corner of the building. In that same moment, the door flung open and Josh appeared out of nowhere.

"It's CRU, they knew we were coming," Josh explained as he embraced Phoenix in a quick hug. "Bella and Sam are trapped in the control room, I only just got away."

"Are they alright?" Phoenix frantically demanded, fear and panic distracting her from the plan.

"I don't know, I had to get out of there as fast as possible, but they managed to find Mark," Josh answered. "They're holding him in room 137 on Level 2."

Phoenix nodded and thrust the journal into Josh's hands. "Take this, don't let CRU get their hands on it, then find Heather and Wanda, work together to free Bella and Sam-"

"Heather and Bella can't help us, they're elsewhere right now," Josh interrupted her. "I don't have any time to explain, CRU are coming Phoenix, they know you're in here. I don't know how, but they knew what we were after."

For a split second, Phoenix was too terrified to do anything, until she realized the only way to help her friends was to make sure they got out. "Then it's up to you," Phoenix placed a hand on his shoulder. "Free Bella and Sam, then do whatever you can to get out of here. Don't worry about me, just get the others and get out. I'll save Mark."

Josh nodded and disappeared from sight, just as they heard loud footsteps and banging doors further down the hallway. Grabbing the door, Phoenix pulled it shut and pressed her body weight against it, and the stranger moved to do the same thing.

"I'm sorry for dragging you into this," Phoenix apologized. "It's not to late for you to bail and save yourself."

"No chance," the stranger shook his head. "I'm with you Phoenix."

Realization slapped her in the face. She stared at him for what seemed like an eerily long time, when in reality she only glanced in his direction for a few seconds while she examined his profile in an entirely different light. She looked past his unkempt appearance and almost lifeless expression. She saw old eyes, fitting a man who she'd only ever seen in a photograph, but she'd heard almost everything of him in stories.

"I know who you are," Phoenix whispered. The stranger didn't react visibly, but his mind practically froze when he heard Phoenix's words. "Steve was right."

Neither of them had a chance to say anything further, as at that moment, the sounds of the Hydra soldiers came upon the door and thrust it open without exerting much effort. Phoenix reacted immediately, and thrust her arm upwards, engulfing the doorway in a large plume of fire that placed a barrier between them and the soldiers.

"Go!" Phoenix heard the voice next to her shouting, urging her to escape.

"I'll tell Steve what you did," Phoenix promised. "He wants to find you, you need to stop running."

"Save your friends Phoenix!" he pressed, seemingly choosing to ignore her words about Steve. "I'll cover you."

"Thank you," she placed a hand on his shoulder, maintaining sincere eye contact. "Bucky."

The name that passed between them felt like a foreign invader for both parties. The stranger clenched his fists, caught between the familiarity of the name, and the alien feeling of it being spoken aloud. After a second, he nodded solemnly.

Phoenix ran for the barrier of fire that consumed the doorway, launching herself through it and throwing her body weight against the first solider she came into contact with. Having caught them by surprise, Phoenix immediately roundhouse kicked the nearest one, and then pushed her way through the rest of them, running for the end of the hallway.

As Phoenix ran, she counted about four of them following after her, but their guns remained silent. Clearly Carver had given a no kill order for her, she feared that Bucky hadn't been as lucky to receive Carver's favor. But this raised another question, where the hell was CRU? They were here in the building, Josh had confirmed that. So why weren't they the ones coming after her?

The first warning shot was fired well above her head, hitting the ceiling. The soldiers had gotten fed up with the chase, once one shot was fired, a flurry of them fired all around her. They were careful not to shoot directly at her, but they seemed to think that shooting near her would scare her into stopping.

Turning one last corner, Phoenix faced the stairwell that would lead her down where Mark was, and hesitated for a moment to assess her surroundings. Taking a stance directly between her fast approaching pursuers and the stairwell, Phoenix drew in a deep breath.

Phoenix thrust her arms sharply in the direction of the soldiers, sending a tidal wave of fire directly for them. The fire licked at the walls, and filled the hallway, moving with unforgivable speed in their direction. It came to a halt once it hit them, filling the hallway, until it disappeared when the last of the soldier's screams ceased.

Panting from the effort, Phoenix paused to catch her breath, before she threw open the door of the stairwell, descending the steps as fast as possible. Phoenix barely registered the echoing sounds of more doors being thrown open and heavy footsteps entering the stairwell. She jumped the last set of stairs, landing right in front of the access door for level two.

She knew exactly where room 137 was, how could she forget? It was her own personal level of hell.

Phoenix pushed the creeping fearful thoughts from her mind, and focused everything she had on finding Mark. She found the room easily enough. No guards waited for her, in fact the hallways of level two were entirely deserted. She was obviously walking into a trap.

She kicked open the door and almost immediately faltered. There was an empty operating table, it's silver metal winked deviously at her, like it knew what she was thinking. Trembling, Phoenix took a single step into the room, pushing away the whispers that crawled around her.

"Phoenix," a voice on her right croaked out her name weakly.

Phoenix forced herself to stop staring at the empty operating table, and instead, her eyes fell on the one that was occupied. Straps were wrapped around his neck, wrists, ankles and abdomen, tying him down to the table. There were bruises on his face and arms, but he was alive.

"Mark!" Phoenix exclaimed as she ran to his side and began pulling the straps off him. "What did they do to you?"

"Not much," Mark groaned in response. "A little light abuse, nothing too major."

"Did they take any of your blood?" She asked, helping him into a sitting position on the table.

"Nope," he responded. "I'm bait Phoenix, CRU said that they'll be waiting for you the second you try to leave this room."

"You think I don't know that."

"Phoenix wait," he grabbed her wrist as she tried to pull him to his feet and lead him to the door. Still holding her wrist, Mark stood up from the table, but remained rooted to the spot. "I want to say something, just in case we don't make it out."

"Mark..." She spoke his name in exasperation, her words trailing off as Mark's grip moved from her wrist down to her hand.

"Phoenix please, I won't be able to live with myself if I keep it quiet any longer," Mark's words came out in a nervous rush. Underneath Phoenix's stare, the words were heavier, harder to speak. Mark inhaled a deep breath, before he spoke calmly. "I love you Phoenix."

Immediately, Phoenix wrenched her hand from his grasp and stared at him with wide eyes. Mark instantly regretted his decision, and let his hand fall to his side as he watched Phoenix attempt to process exactly what he had said.

"I didn't want to die without telling you how I feel," Mark tried to make excuses for himself.

To his surprise, Phoenix scoffed. "You think I don't know how you feel?" She demanded. "I knew you had a crush on me, but I wasn't expecting you to say that you love me."

"I-but-how," Mark spluttered before another realization hit him and he managed to find enough bearings to speak normally. "If you knew how I felt, then why didn't you say anything?"

"Because I don't feel the same," Phoenix answered quietly. Her words delivered the final blow to Mark's emotions, and she felt the guilt creep up on her as she watched his face fall.

"I get it," he murmured sadly. "Because of everything that's happened to you, I understand why you can't feel that way."

Guilt washed itself away and was replaced by anger as Phoenix turned to glare at Mark. "You think I can't have feelings for someone?" She demanded angrily. "I wish I couldn't feel anything, but I do. Don't assume that the reason I don't feel the same way about you is because I can't have feelings, it's because I have feelings for someone else!"

Phoenix's outburst surprised her most of all. Mark looked like he had been expecting it and nodded his head. "Yeah I knew that, I just didn't want to be right," he muttered. "I know who it is, and I know they feel the same way about you."

"Really?" Phoenix sounded doubtful, but there was clear excitement in her words, and a small smile was beginning to creep across her face. Mark had never seen her look like that, and seeing it brought a smile to his lips as well, and he nodded.

The door practically exploded open with the loudest noise possible. The interruption caused Phoenix and Mark to jump backwards in shock, Phoenix immediately placing herself protectively in front of Mark and holding her hand outstretched, ready for a defensive attack.

"That sounded like a lovely heartwarming conversation," a voice sneered as heavy footsteps entered the room. "I feel a bit rude to interrupt."

Carver stood proudly in the doorway, accompanied only by Leda. His eyes fell onto Phoenix and immediately his lips pulled over his teeth in an uncomfortable grin. The exposed tattoo on his arm stood out clearer than ever, warning Phoenix of what would happened if Carver succeeded in possessing her.

"No one can help you little bird," Carver hissed.


	20. The Explosion

**A/N: Bet you weren't expecting to see me again so soon! Believe it or not folks, after this, there's only one chapter and an epilogue** **left. We are so close to the finishing line. Now in this chapter there is a pretty big surprise, some of you may have predicted it. If you look back at previous chapters you'll see me alluding to it pretty heavily. Also, a shocking discovery is made, and this chapter ends on a cliffhanger. It is pretty intense, so hold on for what is the longest chapter I've ever written, and as always, don't forget to read, review and enjoy.**

* * *

Bella struggled against the large automatic rifle Sara had pressed against her face, pinning her down to the control room's desk, using the weight of the weapon to keep Bella still. Next to Bella, Raoul was placing handcuffs around Sam's wrists.

On the other side of Bella, Jasper was typing furiously on a keyboard, her eyes glued to the screens that filled an entire wall of the room. Once he had restrained Sam, Raoul stood behind Jasper and folded his arms, joining Jasper in staring intently at the screens.

"Where'd he go?" Raoul demanded.

"None of our cameras can spot him, and our sensors don't seem to be detecting him either," Jasper answered. "Looks like we've got an invisible kid on our hands."

Raoul muttered something unintelligible and pointed at the security footage of a door, it's lock had almost been completely melted away. "Send a team to Phoenix and the soldier, we need to split the two of them up, make it easier for Carver."

"Wait!" Jasper exclaimed. "There he is."

A figure appeared out of nowhere on the middle of the screen, running for the door that Phoenix and the soldier were behind. Raoul immediately took over, and typed in a code which activated screaming loud alarms on the floor Josh had appeared on.

"Get the team there now!" Raoul ordered. "Trap them there. Our priority is to capture the kid, don't waste your time with Phoenix."

Too late, Josh exited the room and disappeared before the team of soldiers reached his location, and in an angry response, Raoul slammed his fist against the desk. Bella watched his outburst of anger, and started laughing, ignoring the barrel of Sara's rifle, that was still pressed against her face.

Without even blinking, Raoul pulled Bella out from underneath Sara's gun by grabbing her shoulders, he slammed her back against the desk before he threw her to the ground at his feet. He pressed his foot into her ribs, and smiled as Bella screamed.

* * *

Heather felt the desk against her back, and the impact of the ground. She cried out as she felt a hard force pressing itself down on her ribs. She could feel her pain, feel everything she felt in that moment. Feeling returned to her hands and feet.

But as Heather regained consciousness of her body, her mind began to scream as her protection was ripped away. She heard everything, playing through her head in a barely comprehensible rattle of shouting. Most distinctly, she heard their voices.

* * *

"One little crease in the paper doesn't ruin the masterpiece," Raoul spat at Bella, pressing his foot harder into her ribs. "Phoenix will fall into Hydra's trap, and all of you pathetic kids will be handed over to Hydra, where you will live out the rest of your days as mindless drones. The outcome will be the same no matter what that invisible kid does to-"

Raoul was cut off as something unseen struck him over the back of the head and sent him falling to the ground. As Raoul tried to pull himself up, the unseen force knocked him back down once more. From the way Raoul's head kept throwing itself back and slamming on the ground, Bella guessed that an invisible Josh was kicking him in the face repeatedly.

Bella made use of the moment of surprise to roll backwards, and used the momentum to direct her legs at Sara, knocking Sara to the ground with a hit to the back of her knees. Sara then stumbled to her feet, and before she could reach for the gun at her side, Bella kicked her in the neck before delivering a flurry of punches to her midsection.

Behind the two fighting pairs, Sam's eyes fell upon Jasper, who was typing furiously on the computer. Holding his handcuffed hands in front of him, Sam charged at her. She was knocked of her chair, but reacted before Sam, and pulled out a Taser, shooting it directly at Sam's chest.

* * *

Heather felt the electricity burning through her veins, causing her to frantically convulse in the back of the van while Wanda tried desperately to hold her still. They were all screaming, screaming so loud with no chance of stopping.

She had to help them, had to save them.

She was one of the Experiments, she couldn't leave them.

* * *

Sam stood against the volts running through his chest from the Taser. Fighting against the force threatening to throw him backwards, Sam raised his cuffed hands, palms outstretched to Jasper who was staring at him in fear. From Sam's palms, erupted a flash of lightning bolts.

He directed the voltage coursing through his body to the pure energy he released from his hands. Jasper was slammed against the far wall, she screamed loudly with a distressed howl as the lightning hit her at almost every angle.

Once Sam lowered his hand, Jasper's charred body, still engulfed with flames, hit the ground with a thump. The space where the lightning had hit now spawned sparks of flame that caught onto the desk in the corner of the room, sending it alight with flames.

Bella and Sam ran for the door, frantically reaching for each other's hands as they sped away. They came to a stop in an empty hallway, using the opportunity to catch their breaths. Josh appeared in front of them seconds later, and the three of them embraced in a group hug.

"Good job frying that Jasper bitch. Raoul and Sara got away though," Josh complimented Sam as they pulled apart. "Still, one out of seven isn't bad."

Sam was far too preoccupied with looking at his hands in shock to fully comprehend Josh's words. "I didn't even know I could do that," he muttered absently.

"Where's Phoenix?" Bella turned to Josh, the panic visible in her creased forehead.

"She went after Mark," Josh replied. "Her orders were for me to rescue you two and escape."

"But it's a trap," Bella argued, her voice raising in pitch as fear overtook her. "Carver will…oh god, we have to help her."

At that moment, a large squadron of Hydra soldiers came around the corner, led by Journey and Owen, expressions of violent malice adorning each of their faces. Before any of the soldiers could aim their weapons, Sam hauled Bella and Josh away by grabbing their hands and running as fast as possible in the opposite direction.

"We need to help ourselves first!" Sam shouted.

Journey and Owen began running after them ahead of the squadron, gaining on the three fleeing Experiments as they ran for their safety. Turning the last corner, the three Experiments came to an abrupt halt as the door to the stairwell at the end of the hallway, flew off its hinges and launched itself forward several meters, crashing to a halt just before the feet of Josh, Bella and Sam.

Heather emerged, her hands raised, a blank expression on her face. As she raised her hand higher, the door moved with it, lifting itself off the ground. As Heather thrust her palm outward, the door flew over the heads of the other Experiments and hit the first line of the soldiers that were chasing them.

Behind Heather, Wanda stepped into view, flicking her hands at the soldiers, red kinetic energy flying forward and knocking three of them to the ground. Seeing the other Experiments, Wanda ran to their side while Heather walked towards the remaining soldiers.

"Where are the others," Wanda asked.

A bullet came close to Wanda's head, lodging itself in the wall behind her, but Heather quickly dispatched the solider who had fired, lifting their body off the ground and throwing them into the wall with a quick movement of her hands.

"Let's deal with these assholes first," Josh suggested as he nodded to the soldiers. "How about some cover Bell?"

Bella nodded and slowly raised her hands, palms directed towards the ceiling. A dark mist began to exude from Bella's hands, crawling rapidly across the ground and engulfing the Hydra soldiers in an impenetrable abyss of darkness that ate up all the light around them.

Unable to hear the shouts of the others, Heather continued walking towards the soldiers, stepping into the mist and falling into darkness. Her hands reached for the words that leeched a sickness into her mind, hands enclosing around the poison spirts polluting her head.

Journey was flung unexpectedly from the mist, Owen following shortly after. The two of them landed between the layer of mist containing the Hydra soldiers, and the Experiments waiting for Heather in front of the stairwell.

Heather herself emerged only seconds later, running out of the mist at full speed and launching herself at Owen. He saw her coming and prepared himself for her attack, rooting his feet to the ground. Heather went for his chest, and Owen went for her throat.

Journey rose to her feet next to Heather and Owen, and moved like she was about to strike Heather down, but she never got her chance. Wanda reacted first, firing a large pulse of kinetic energy at Journey, strong enough to send her flying into the wall at a speed that caused the wall to crack as she hit it. Journey fell to the ground, unconscious and limp.

Heather was struggling against Owen's strong hands that wrapped around her throat. As he lifted her off the ground, Heather outstretched her arms, palms aimed at the walls on either side of her. Owen realised what was happening too late, as Heather clenched her fists and pieces of the wall on both sides, broke away and slammed into Owen's head at a lethal speed.

There was a crunch as the two slabs of concrete caught Owen's head between them. Heather fell to her knees as Owen's grip released, and he fell to the ground with a dull thud. Heather looked down at his lifeless form for a few seconds before she looked upwards at the Experiments and Wanda.

"Too many corrupted voices," Heather muttered. "Diseased thoughts."

Bella's eyes went wide, and she turned to Wanda for an explanation. Wanda looked down in defeat, before she stared at Bella in regret. "The reason she was taking medication, is because she could hear other people's thoughts, and couldn't shut them off," Wanda explained, a sob rising in her throat. "She overdosed because the medication was wearing off faster than usual. Now, it's worn off completely, and I don't know what's happened to her."

Josh approached his friend, holding her face gently in his hands. She pushed him away and began muttering again. "So sad. Words are so sad. Stop the sad words."

"We have to help her," Sam gestured to his friend with a weak arm.

"There's no tablets left," Josh shook his head. "And even if there was, the overdose has completely screwed with her tolerance for the stuff. It wouldn't do anything unless she overdosed again, and that would send her into cardiac arrest and kill her."

"There's nothing we can do?" Bella's bottom lip trembled as she watched her friend stand stiffly in front of her, continuing to mutter under her breath.

"Way out," Heather spoke with determination and began moving to the stairwell. "Fire. The fire is safe."

"She means Phoenix," Bella stopped trembling, rising to her full height before she took off after Heather, the others following behind her.

* * *

Carver took a step forward, but stopped when Phoenix raised her arm higher, a warning for him to back off. Carver whistled, and within the span of a second, Leda had moved behind Mark and wrapped her hand around his throat. Phoenix had been too focused on Carver to notice Leda sneak around the back of her.

First mistake.

Drawing a sleek silver sword from a scabbard attached to his belt, Carver twirled the blade in the air, before pointing it at Phoenix. He walked forward until Phoenix could feel the tip of the blade pressing into the fabric of the shirt that covered her chest. Phoenix let her arm fall to her side.

Second mistake.

Carver pointed the sword downwards and grabbed Phoenix's wrist, spinning her around and pulling her towards him, so her back was pressed against him, and his mouth was inches from the right side of her face. She felt an exhale of breath on her skin as Carver chuckled.

"You're mine now," he whispered into Phoenix's hair, using the free hand that was holding Phoenix to his chest, to stroke her face.

Phoenix and Mark made eye contact with each other, Mark nodding once he understood what Phoenix wanted. Once Phoenix gave him the signal by biting her lip, Mark went limp in Leda's arms, falling to the ground, out of reach of the flame Phoenix released that erupted around the room all at once, incapacitating Carver and Leda.

They escaped from the room just as Carver roared in anguish, and whipping her head to Mark, Phoenix shouted an instruction. "We need to throw Carver off our trail and escape!" she told him. "We can get out through the garage in the basement."

"Give me your hand, we can outrun them," Mark said as he confidently outstretched his hand to Phoenix. She didn't accept at first, and stared at his hand while they continued running at a normal pace. "You need to trust me Phoenix."

Phoenix nodded, and grabbed his hand.

It wasn't anything like she imagined it would be. Instead of the world speeding up, it slowed down. She and Mark moved at a normal pace, while the entire world moved in slow motion around them. Now she understood the rush Mark felt when he used his ability, she felt like she could control the whole world.

They reached the garage in under a minute, and Phoenix had to pause and process the real time once Mark came to a halt. Mark caught her by her shoulders as she found herself tumbling, and held her upright until she had overcome the shock of Mark's abilities.

"I forgot that when you do your first couple of runs, it knocks you off your feet," Mark smiled at Phoenix in amusement as he released her.

Phoenix didn't respond and walked into the garage, examining each of the vehicles carefully. Mark moved to follow her, but she signalled for him to wait in the doorway and keep watch, so he begrudgingly leaned against the wall in front of the doorway with his arms folded across his chest, while Phoenix wandered further into the garage that seemed to go on forever.

There was a loud bang from above Mark, causing him to leap away from the door. He heard more than one person coming down the stairs, heading straight for him. He had no weapons to defend himself, so he stood a little way back from the door with his fists held below his chin like Phoenix had taught him.

The door burst open to reveal multiple familiar figures that came tumbling through the doorway, in a mad rush searching for someone. Mark yelled in excitement, his shouts matched by the others who all began yelling incoherently over the other, sharing their triumph.

The Experiments shared an excited group hug, only pulling away after each of them had a chance to hug Mark. Heather stood nearby with a smile on her face, but didn't participate in the display of affection, because her eyes were too busy glancing back and forth from each side of the room.

"You're alive," tears were springing into Josh's eyes as he gushed at his friend.

"We were worried about you," Sam wasn't moved to tears, but still clearly emotional.

Mark decided to take this opportunity and pulled Sam a little way to the side, leaning forward to whisper between them. "I struck out with Phoenix," Mark told him, and took an unsteady breath before he told him the next part. "Turns out she doesn't have feelings for me…she has feelings for you."

Sam stared at him with open eyes, before he gave Mark a goofy smile. His eyes then began to search for Phoenix, who had disappeared into the expanse of the garage. However, hearing the loud noises the group had made upon being reunited with Mark, she had begun to make her way back to where they were.

She spotted the group, her face breaking into a smile as she realised that all of them were there. Her eyes fell onto one person, and remembering what Mark had told her about her shared feelings, all of her restraint fell away and she ran straight for the one person she had been aching to hold for so long.

Phoenix collided into Bella, her lips crashing down to Bella's while Phoenix's hands went straight for the other girl's hips. Everyone else stared at the pair with open mouths, Sam's goofy smile had washed away, and he now looked at Mark with annoyance.

"I may have misread that situation," Mark said in way of an apology, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "When she said she had feelings for someone else I assumed it was you."

Despite being wrapped up in kissing Bella, Phoenix was close enough to hear what Mark had said and sharply pulled away. She let go of Bella and leapt back nervously, avoiding Bella's shocked stare while she turned her head to glare at Mark.

"You thought I meant Sam?" Phoenix demanded, finally letting her eyes wander back to Bella while her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. "I'm sorry, he said that he knew who I had feelings for, and that they felt the same way, so I assumed you would be ok with that, otherwise I wouldn't have thrown myself at you and –"

Bella cut her off. Stepping forward, she took Phoenix's face in her hands, gently pulling her head downwards while Bella stepped on her toes and softly pressed her lips against Phoenix's once more. Phoenix retaliated by wrapping her arms around Bella's waist, falling into the kiss.

Shouting began to echo from the open door behind Wanda and Heather, prompting them to immediately run toward the others. Bella and Phoenix broke apart, Phoenix gesturing wildly to the nearest vehicle as a signal for all of them to get in while she held the others off. Soldiers adorned in black appeared at the doorway, but were thrown back as Phoenix tossed a fireball in their direction.

She jumped into the passenger seat of the large SUV Bella had commandeered, the other five of their group piling into the backseat frantically, while Bella turned the engine on with the keys that had thankfully been waiting for her in the ignition.

"FLOOR IT!" Mark screeched as a bullet whizzed through the window, narrowly missing his nose.

Bella obeyed, and slammed her foot against the accelerator, reversing out of the parking space and slamming into the Hydra soldiers that had been running for the vehicle. She winced upon the impact, before she changed the gears to drive, and sped towards the ramp leading to the exit.

"The evil thoughts follow!" Heather shouted as a screech of car wheels indicated that Hydra had begun chasing after them with another car.

Phoenix whipped her head around to Heather, her eyes growing wide as she looked at her friend closely for the first time upon being reunited. "Oh no," Phoenix muttered, as everything became clearer, even the broken connection of their mental link.

She had no more time to dwell on the issue though, as the vehicle pursuing them grew closer by the second. Looking ahead of her when she heard Bella's warning shout, Phoenix also realised that the exit had been closed, and an inch of steel now stood between them and their escape.

"Wanda!" Phoenix called into the backseat as the closed door advanced closer.

Wanda raised her hand, preparing herself for the mental effort she was about to exert, but Heather got there first. With a simple flick of her wrist in the direction of the door, it broke away from what secured it to the walls, flying into the air before it crashed to the left, clearing their path to freedom.

"You've been holding back," Josh remarked to Heather as their vehicle sped out of the confines of the Hydra base, and onto the open road as Bella smashed through the last barricade.

"Phoenix, what happened to the man who was with you?" Wanda asked as the situation calmed down. "Did he escape?"

"I don't know," Phoenix answered, thinking back to the last she had seen of him. "We got separated when I went looking for Mark. Last I saw him, he was facing down about six Hydra soldiers. If he survived, he'll destroy the base like he originally planned."

"Did you figure out who he was?" Mark asked curiously.

"Yeah I did," Phoenix answered. "He's a ghost."

No further questions could be asked as screeching tyres and the smell of burning rubber indicated that the car behind them had drifted on the last corner, and was still gaining on them. A bullet hit the side mirror on Bella's side, causing her to almost throw them off the road when she jumped and turned the wheel in surprise.

Phoenix leaned half of her body out the open window, turning so she sat on the edge of the open window and could see the vehicle behind them clearly. Even though the windows were tinted, Heather's cryptic words were enough proof for Phoenix to know that CRU were in the large armoured van behind them.

"Fire won't do anything to that car, its exterior is too strong!" Phoenix shouted back into her own vehicle. "Any ideas?"

"Yeah, but you're not going to like it!" Bella shouted in response, turning the wheel sharply to the right, and sending their car offroad.

They headed straight for a slope, and despite the screams of warning and fear from the occupants of the back seat, Bella continued to press her foot against the accelerator and head for the slope. Phoenix pulled herself back into the window just in time as their SUV launched over the edge of the slope.

There was a chorus of high pitched screams as the SUV soared through the air, and the occupants braced themselves for impact as the car landed in the middle of an empty road, landing on its four wheels with a hard thud, the body of the car lurching into the ground before bouncing back up to it's normal height.

Phoenix's hair had fallen into her face, and she was still holding onto the dashboard, which she had clung onto for dear life during their descent. She turned to Bella, wide-eyed as she brushed her hair from her face. "Where'd you learn to do that?" Phoenix asked, completely out of breath.

"I play a lot of Grand Theft Auto," Bella answered with a proud grin.

Phoenix laughed, and looked like she was about to kiss Bella again, but stopped herself at the last minute and the two of them changed places so Phoenix could drive them to safety. She chose a route through downtown so they could find a suitable substitute for their SUV, since the hood of their vehicle was smoking after the ordeal Bella had put it through.

Their reprieve lasted only until they were on W 4th St, as they were crossing the overpass above S Flower St. An armoured van spun into oncoming traffic in front of them, and came barrelling towards them at top speed. Phoenix immediately slammed on the brakes, and screamed for everyone to get out of the car.

The Experiments and Wanda launched themselves out of the doors, rolling across the road as the armored van commandeered by CRU collided into their now vacant SUV, sending it flying back in a crumpled mess that hit about five cars that were behind it, creating a giant crash in the middle of the overpass. Traffic came to a complete standstill all around them, and out of the armored van, and it's single occupant emerged.

Carver.

Phoenix's head shot upwards. Searching through the chaos for Bella, she saw her on the other side of the road, being helped to her feet by Sam. Phoenix was so caught up in ensuring she was alright, she didn't notice Carver storming towards her out of the wreckage he had created.

Phoenix leapt to her feet, engulfing her hands in flame as warning to stay back. Carver laughed, a terrible blood curling noise that scratched at Phoenix's insides. In his hand, Carver held three large needles, each filled with a bright orange liquid that glowed against the metal that contained it.

"Fight fire with fire!" Carver screamed, holding the first of the needles to his exposed vein on the inside of his elbow.

Phoenix saw what he was doing and took several steps back. The Experiments watched her, and she glanced to each and every one of them in fear. As the needle pierced Carver's skin, Phoenix took off at a run to where they had gathered in a clustered group.

"Get a car, and get out. Get as far away from here as possible!" Phoenix shouted frantically, pushing them away as Carver prepped the second needle, the EXTREMIS virus already presenting itself dangerously in his veins. "It's not safe, you need to get out of the downtown area! He going to use EXTREMIS to turn himself into a bomb, he'll kill everyone within eight blocks!"

"What are you going to do?" Mark questioned.

"I'm going to use my ability to try and stop him," Phoenix answered, watching in fear as the second needle entered Carver's skin.

"You can't!" Bella shouted, grabbing Phoenix's arm. "The fire won't hurt you, but the force of that explosion will rip you to pieces."

"I can stop it," Phoenix told her confidently, placing one hand on Bella's cheek. "But if I can't, I need to know that you'll be safe."

"No, I'm not leaving you, never again," Bella outright refused as Phoenix's hand fell away from her cheek. "You could die Phoenix."

Before Phoenix could say anything more, or beg her to go, there was a loud catcall from behind her. Phoenix turned her head slowly to see the third needle fall out of Carver's hand, it's contents now swirling in his veins, causing his entire body to glow orange and begins to melt the fabric of his shirt.

Spreading his arms up to the sky, Carver rolled his head back and cackled. "They have no idea," Carver shrieked, throwing his head forward, he stared at Bella with orange eyes and waggled his finger at her. "There's only one thing that can stop me now, and Phoenix knows what it is. Today, you all get to witness the power, and the terror, of Project Achilles!"

"You're lying!" Mark shouted at him, taking a confident step forward. "You have no idea where that weapon is Carver, it's locked away where you'll never see it ever again."

Carver howled with laughter and clapped his hands. Phoenix's head sunk low as Carver swept his arms towards her in an overzealous gesture. "I'm looking at Project Achilles right now!" he shouted gleefully. "You had the weapon all along."

Carver stepped forward, his hands trembling as he pointed at Phoenix. "Project Achilles is so much more than a weapon," Carver giggled, his eyes travelling up and down Phoenix's figure as he watched her look away in shame. "Project Achilles, is a person, and she's standing right next to you."

All eyes fell onto Phoenix who was looking anywhere but the faces of her friends. Someone's hands reached for her, she wasn't sure who, but she stepped out of their grasp and approached Carver, taking slow footsteps, placing one foot softly in front of the other.

For the first time, Carver ignored her, and turned his full attention to her teammates standing behind her. He walked past Phoenix, approaching them with a mad smile. Gesturing to his body that still glowed bright with Extremis energy, he stood a little way in front of them, hands outstretched like he wanted them to witness him.

"This is what happens when you love Phoenix," he hissed at them. "Her ability isn't the only thing that's fire. Everything she is, is nothing but flame and ruin. She is the sun, the light, everything beautiful in this world, but the most dangerous possible thing at the same time. She pulls you in, and then she does what fire does best."

"Fire burns," Phoenix and Carver spoke in unison.

Phoenix remained where she stood, facing away from them all while Carver approached her once again. He stood directly in front of her. The EXTREMIS virus was beginning to burn away the flesh of his face, and the glow underneath his skin was growing brighter by the second.

"Now we burn together," Carver murmured his last words.

Carver's body glowed completely orange, before the world around them erupted in a blast of fire.


	21. The Reprise

**A/N: This chapter is all about resolving the story, because guess what comes next folks. The epilogue. We are so close to the end, and I want to thank all of you for giving me the motivation to keep going with this story. Keep a watch out for a special appearance from a very special character I know you all love to see. Here's a hint, this character and Phoenix also shared a conversation in Chapter 21 of the story before this one, Ice and Fire. When I get the epilogue written, I will post it as soon as possible, and I will also be letting you know what the future holds for Phoenix. For now, be sure to read, review and enjoy.**

* * *

" _Late last night, the centre of Downtown LA was a scene of absolute ruin and destruction as a violent confrontation between a man and a young girl resulted in a near explosion that scientists estimate would've wiped out a large portion of the city."_

" _Witness have confirmed that the man himself was the source of the explosion, and it was the actions of a young teenage girl that saved the city. CCTV footage from the scene shows the girl raising her hands, and using some kind of superpower to stop the explosion before it could harm innocent civilians."_

" _This mystery girl has been labelled a heroine of LA, and there are many people who wish to express their gratitude for the young hero, who disappeared shortly after saving the city, and is now, nowhere to be found."_

Bella slammed her hand against the button for the car radio, turning off yet another report about the incident in LA. At first, they were calling the 'mysterious girl' a danger to humanity, but after security footage from the bridge leaked onto the internet, it became evident that the mysterious girl had saved them from the man who turned himself into a bomb. Now they were calling her an angel.

She didn't want to hear about, didn't want to hear anything about how Phoenix had nearly died. Phoenix, who was asleep in the passenger's seat, curled up with her head resting against the window and a blanket wrapped around her body.

As Bella was distracted with watching her, she drove over a pothole by accident, causing Phoenix to stir as her head whacked against the window. Phoenix's head shot upwards looking around frantically to try and understand what was happening. When she turned her head, and saw the other Experiments in the car, she blinked a few times in surprise.

"I'm not dead," Phoenix murmured to herself as she sat upright and rubbed at her eyes. The disappointment in her tone was clear, and it caused Bella to tense when she heard Phoenix say it.

Turning her head, Phoenix saw the others sitting in the back of the minivan. Mark and Sam were in the very back of the van and sitting unusually close to each other, while Josh, Heather and Wanda sat together in the middle seat. All five of them had their eyes fixated on Phoenix, each of them waiting for her to answer their unspoken questions.

"We're not talking about it," Phoenix told them sternly, turning away from all of them to stare out the window. "It's done, it's in the past, just leave it alone."

"You seem to forget, I can read minds now," a weak, almost dead voice croaked from behind Phoenix. Heather, looking as exhausted as she sounded, seemed to have regained some level of sanity now that she wasn't surrounded by the thoughts of more than fifty people. Only six.

"You really shouldn't do that," Phoenix remarked coldly.

Heather made a noise in the back of her throat that sounded like a sarcastic 'ha'. "If I could shut it off, I would."

Phoenix was silent for a moment, kicked the dashboard and turned to Bella. "Pull over now," she ordered. Realizing how harshly she had spoken, Phoenix cleared her throat before correcting herself. "Please pull over so we can sort everything out."

Luckily, there was a patch of flat ground approaching on the side of the road that was the perfect size for Bella to park their minivan away from the road. Immediately after she exited the vehicle, Phoenix began walking in the direction of the forest without saying anything. The Experiments and Wanda hurriedly followed after her as they watched her walk further and further away.

It was clear she had no idea where she was going, but eventually, she came to a space where the trees weren't as close together, and stood underneath the tallest. She waited patiently for the others to approach, and they naturally formed a circle formation. Phoenix beckoned Heather forth, and the two of them met in the center of the circle.

"What presented itself first, your telekinesis or telepathy?" Phoenix asked her.

"Telepathy," Heather answered.

Phoenix nodded and grabbed Heather's hand, turning her hand so her palms were angled at the sky, Phoenix rested Heather's hand on her own. "You've been repressing your primary ability for nearly 12 years, and now your body is struggling to adjust to a completely foreign process."

Heather winched as the concerned and anxious thoughts flooded into her own mind from people around her. Underneath it all, much fainter, she heard Phoenix's thoughts, and she was calm. Phoenix's lack of concerned only furthered Heather's worries.

Phoenix let go of Heather's hand, and took a step back. "Our abilities comes to us naturally, give it about two days and you'll be fine," Phoenix told her. "The voices are growing fainter already aren't they? That's because your body is already adjusting and gaining control over your ability."

"Wait," Heather held up a hand. "You're telling me that I all have to do is wait a couple of days? Are you kidding me? I've been popping pills for 12 years, and the solution is that simple?"

"Yeah, and if you hadn't started taking the pills in the first place, you would've had control over this ability when you were six," Phoenix retorted.

The circle was quiet as Heather fell back into place and seemed to fall into a state of shock. All eyes were now on Phoenix, with the solution to Heather's problem now dealt with, questions directed at Phoenix became glaringly more present, hanging dangerously in the air above The Experiments, and the Avenger they had taken on as a companion.

"So," Josh broke the silence. "Project Achilles isn't a weapon. It's you."

"What do you want me to say?" Phoenix demanded, her head snapping upwards. "What can I say that Carver's death didn't already make a point of?"

"Then why don't you tell us how it's possible," Sam suggested. "How is it possible that you have the power to create explosions that make the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki look like hand grenades? Since when has this been a thing because you never mentioned it to us, ever?"

"I don't know," Phoenix threw her hands up in exasperation. "At first, all I could do was create fire, but then one day, I was creating small bursts of fire and shockwaves. The Doctor was showing me off to Alexander Pierce on my 10th birthday, and Pierce saw my ability. That's when Project Achilles was first put into development, and I was trained to be a weapon of mass destruction. Now, I can use my fire to create a buildup of energy and heat, which I then release on a massive scale."

"He did everything underneath the surface. He would activate me by a trigger, and I had no idea what I was doing," Phoenix told them. "Up until we found the files in the Databank, I had no idea what I was because the Doctor had repressed those memories, but when I saw the footage, I remembered everything. I didn't just light the server room on fire to destroy it, I blew it up."

"And you didn't tell us," Mark stated, shaking his head at her. "You blew up the databank to keep it a secret, and then you avoided telling us what it really was. You even lied to Clint and Natasha just to keep it under wraps. Why?"

"Because I didn't want you to be scared of me!" Phoenix shouted angrily, but she wasn't angry at her team. "I didn't want you to see me as a weapon, or a freak, or a monster! I was terrified that we would go back to how it was last year, when I was your worst nightmare! I couldn't stand the thought of being alone again!"

Just like that, Phoenix started sobbing. None of The Experiments had seen her like this outside of her breakdowns, this was just crying, plain and simple crying. Phoenix was clearly trying to stop herself from the way she tried to hold back her sobs and covered her face with her hands.

To no one's surprise, Bella moved to Phoenix's side and caught her in an embrace. What was surprising however, was that while she held Phoenix in her arms, Bella began laughing. Phoenix was confused of course, and asked Bella why she was laughing, although since she was still crying, it sounded more like was making a choking noise.

"For probably the first time in your life, you did something for yourself," Bella expressed happily. "And it's about damn time that you did the selfish thing, rather than do the self-sacrificial thing like you always do."

"You're - you're not afraid that I'm going to cause an explosion and wipe out a city?" Phoenix sniffled as Bella released her and took a few steps backwards, Bella's laughter prompted a small laugh from her as well.

"You just used your power to save a city from being wiped out," Wanda stated. "We aren't afraid of you."

"I'm a little bit fearful but I'm also scared of being strangled by a curtain so I don't think my opinion matters," Josh quipped.

"I didn't even know if I could do it," Phoenix confessed as she calmed down, wiping tears from her cheek. "Somehow, I contained the energy and heat in one place as Carver exploded, but I expended so much effort, I think my arms are going to be covered in bruises by tomorrow."

"Well if you're going to be dating me, you'll have to get used to being covered in bruises," Bella remarked, shooting Phoenix a smirk.

The Experiments stared with wide eyes as Phoenix blushed in response to Bella's comment. "Shut up," Phoenix muttered under her breath, fighting to keep the grin off her face.

Sam held up his arms, making the time out signal with his hands. "Pause," he demanded, calling all attention back to him. "There are a few things that need to be said," Sam spoke, directing his gaze to Phoenix. "First, I'm just gonna come out and say it because Mark practically already said it, I may have had a crush on you. But you and Bell are a thing so I'll respect that," Sam nodded to Bella before he snapped his head around to Mark. "Secondly, why did you make dumb assumptions and give me false hope you nitwit?"

"Hey," Mark held up his hands defensively. "I had no idea she was a lesbian."

"Bisexual actually," Phoenix corrected.

"Oh wow, really?"

"Yep."

"Huh. Anyway, she told me she had feelings for someone else, and because we'd talked about both of us liking her, and how we would play fair in our attempts to get with her," Mark went off on a spiel as he explained, some of her words prompting a glare from Phoenix. "In my mind, Sam was the only logical option."

"And because you were so sure that I was talking about Sam, you told me that the person I liked had mutual feelings," Phoenix added. "But you were wrong."

"Hey, technically the person you have feelings for does like you back after all" Mark defended himself, pointing at Bella. "So I was right. Sort of."

"Is there anything else anyone wants to add to the circle of sharing?" Josh's irritated voice demanded, his hand raised in the air to draw attention to himself. When no one answered him, he sighed dramatically. "I guess it's my turn then. I'm hella gay. There, that's my confession."

Only one member of the group reacted to Josh's confession, and it was Mark who threw his hands in the air, a bewildered expression on his face. "Is anyone here actually straight? Raise your hand right now if you are not straight."

As expected, Phoenix, Bella and Josh raised their hands, however an extra hand raised itself as well. Mark turned to Sam with an open mouth, but Sam simply shrugged. "I'm in the same boat as Phoenix," he admitted. "None of you asked, so I never told."

"This is very weird," Wanda spoke up from where she was standing. "While I appreciate that you are all being truthful with each other, I thought the end game of this mission was to figure out what was wrong with your genetics, not discover your sexualities."

"That reminds me," Josh pulled a book bound in leather from his jacket and threw it to Phoenix, who caught it smoothly. "Behold, the journal of answers."

Phoenix moved to open it, but stopped herself, and instead held it at her side. "I made a promise to Natasha, that when this was all over I would come back to her," Phoenix told the group. "We need to go to the New Avengers Facility before we take time to look at this."

"The facility is in Upstate New York," Heather reminded her. "It'll take us another 24 hours of driving to get there, and that doesn't even include overnight stops. I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to spend my 18th birthday a crappy motel in the middle of nowhere."

"Oh my god," Bella realized. "Its your birthday tomorrow."

"Thanks for remembering," Heather remarked sarcastically.

"Phoenix, how are we going to get to the New Avengers Facility before tomorrow?" Bella questioned, turning to the girl next to her.

"I think I have an idea," Phoenix replied after a moment of consideration. "I know someone with a helicopter, but he's not going to be happy to see us after what just happened."

"Oh no," Mark deflated when he realized who Phoenix was talking about. "Not Jorge."

* * *

The helicopter landed exactly where Phoenix had told him to land it. The wind picked up by the fast moving blades nearly blew the group backwards while they waited for him to turn off the engine. As the loud whirring shut down, and the blades began to stop spinning, a figure jumped out of the cockpit.

Jorge Louis, a stocky man with a temper even shorter than his small stature stomped towards them, wearing a scowl on his face that made the previous foul expressions he had made towards them in the past, look like gentle smiles.

"Are you kidding me!" he shouted as way of a greeting when he finally reached them. "London! Tokyo! Los fucking Angeles! Do you have any idea what sort of trouble your little vacation has caused me? And as if that wasn't bad enough, then you had to go and blow up LA!"

"Phoenix is the one who _saved_ LA from being blown up," Bella stepped forward to defend Phoenix.

"Oh, I saw! The whole world saw!" Jorge shouted in response, jabbing an accusing finger at Phoenix. "You're lucky they figured out you were the one that stopped the explosion, and not the one who caused it. Every security agency in the country was ready to hunt you down, until some internet idiot leaked the CCTV footage, and everyone with a twitter account dubbed you a hero."

"What?" Phoenix questioned, confused. "People saw me? They're calling me a hero?"

Bella touched Phoenix's arm reassuringly. "I didn't get a chance to tell you," she apologized.

"But, I'm not a hero," Phoenix argued, staring at Jorge. "They can't just call me that."

"Believe it or not, when you stop a city from being blown up, people think you've done something heroic. Isn't that strange?" Jorge remarked sarcastically as he began waving the group towards the helicopter. "Now lets go, the longer we take to get to the Facility, the more likely it is for the Black Widow to tear me to pieces."

Despite being a 6 hour flight, the helicopter journey went by quickly. Upon liftoff, the exhausted Experiments all collapsed, taking the small moment of reprieve as a chance to sleep before what they would have to face at the New Avengers Facility. With her head resting on Bella's shoulder, Phoenix even managed to sleep peacefully for a change.

Natasha Romanoff was waiting outside the building when the helicopter landed. She wanted to run over when she saw Phoenix get out, but she waited patiently for the group to approach her instead. Phoenix stopped a little way in front of her, waiting for her to say something. But she didn't speak, she just stepped forward and hugged her without saying a word.

When Natasha broke their embrace, she addressed the Experiments. "You should all go inside," she told them. They all began to move away, including Wanda, but Natasha called her back. "You stay here."

Bella was one of the last to drift away, making eye contact with Phoenix before she turned her head. Phoenix smiled after her, and watched her until she had moved out of sight. Natasha looked Phoenix up and down in surprise, and smiled a little.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Natasha asked Phoenix.

Phoenix responded by holding up a small book bound in leather that Natasha had seen once before, back at Blake's mansion, only minutes before she met Phoenix for the first time. When she was a terrified little girl, being controlled by a monster. She had changed so much since then.

"I haven't looked at it yet," Phoenix told her. "I know that whatever I find in there, won't be good."

"When it comes to stuff like this Phoenix, none of the answers are good," Natasha spoke. "Don't read it until you're ready."

Phoenix nodded, and Natasha turned to Wanda. "Maximoff," she addressed her, capturing her attention. "Thank you for keeping her safe."

"I can't take credit," Wanda shook her head. "Phoenix did all that herself, in fact, I was kind of useless. I didn't exactly stop her from putting herself in danger. Honestly, I'm a lousy protector."

"You protected my team," Phoenix reminded her. "You stepped up, when I wasn't there to keep them safe. I can't thank you enough for that."

"Both of you are going to have to sit down and tell me everything that happened," Natasha warned them, slightly concerned about the facts she was missing. "But that can wait. Clint's inside waiting for you. And he brought Nathaniel with him."

Sure enough when Phoenix walked into the facility, she saw The Experiments crowded around Clint, all of them paying far too much attention to the fat baby in Clint's arms. When Clint spotted Phoenix, he handed Nathaniel to the nearest person, who happened to be Sam.

"Thank god you're alive," Clint expressed happily as he caught Phoenix in a tight hug. "When I saw the news this morning I was terrified. You have a lot of explaining to do, and not to mention a severe punishment that needs to be carried out."

"What are you going to do, ground me? Take away my TV time?" Phoenix questioned sarcastically as she escaped his hug.

"I'll think of something," Clint made a face at her.

"And how's my little brother doing?" Phoenix asked as she walked over to where Sam was holding Nathaniel, and gently lifted him out of Sam's arms. Phoenix propped him up on her shoulder, her hands around his midsection as he kept him upright. Turning to look at Clint, she raised her eyebrows. "He got fatter."

"I said the same thing," Natasha remarked with a satisfied smirk in Clint's direction.

"Ok, give me my kid back," Clint demanded, shooting irritated glances back and forth between Phoenix and Natasha as he lifted Nathaniel out of Phoenix's arms.

Unexpectedly, Phoenix felt something grab her arm, but when she looked down, she saw nothing. It felt like an invisible force was pulling her, but Josh was standing only a few feet away from her, still completely visible. Something was calling her, and she recognized the cold feel of whatever was causing this.

"I need to go outside for a little bit," Phoenix whispered to Natasha. "I'm fine, I just need to think to myself for a few minutes."

Natasha seemed concerned, but nodded, allowing Phoenix to follow whatever was trying to lead her into the night. She stepped outside, surprised by how unnaturally cold the air was for a summer night. Whatever it was that was calling her, was leading her to a specific spot at the tree line of the nearby forest.

Phoenix approached slowly when she saw the familiar figure awaiting her. He was the last person she was expecting to see, and yet his appearance was the only one that made sense. She came to a stop before him, placing a safe distance between them. After their last meeting, she wasn't sure how he would react to seeing her.

"It appears you have more power than I originally foresaw," Loki addressed her, his cold voice making it's jarring return. "I'm not often impressed by the feats of mortals."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Phoenix demanded coldly, wasting no time with the disgraced Asgardian standing before her.

"I'm here to offer my congratulations of course," Loki replied. "And to fulfill my promise. Did you believe I was lying when I said you would see me again?"

"I was hoping you were lying," Phoenix retorted.

Loki laughed, sending Phoenix's skin crawling. "I thought you would be glad to see me. After all, you need a reminder of your inhumanity, especially now that you've fallen in love with a girl that you're doomed to destroy."

The allusion to Bella was enough to cause Phoenix to charge at the Asgardian, throwing him against the tree behind him, Phoenix then pinned her arm against his neck. Just enough so he couldn't move, but not enough to choke him completely.

"Don't you dare," Phoenix hissed in warning. "I could never hurt her."

"Oh I don't doubt that," Loki chuckled mischievously. "But what about your other self? The part of you that you can't control, that feeds of anger and hatred. You know it's true, one day you won't be able to stop your monster from escaping. And when that happens, you'll rip her to pieces."

Phoenix yelled and pulled Loki off the tree, viciously shoving him to the ground. "If you only came here to taunt me Loki, then I suggest you pick your royal self up from the ground and walk away," Phoenix spat, looking down at Loki in rage as he stood up.

"This is no taunt, this is warning," Loki said, still confident as he rose to his full height. "I've been watching you closely Phoenix. I know what makes you what you are. I know what's in your blood. When you see the words on the page, you'll realize exactly what you are. And maybe then, you'll believe that we are the same."

"Stop lying," Phoenix was growing angrier now, and Loki smirked as he heard the growl in her voice. "I told you last time, we aren't the same!"

Loki smirked. Taking a few steps backwards, he began to fade into the darkness of the night. "Soon enough you'll learn, and you'll realize the truth. Read the words of your creator, and you'll see that I'm right."

With that, he disappeared completely, and as his footsteps grew silent, Phoenix was left to wonder whether his appearance was simply a figment of her imagination. But his cold presence had been far too real, and as Phoenix clutched the journal in her hands, she feared his words may well have been real as well.

* * *

Phoenix waited until she was completely alone, submerged in darkness, with only the light of a small lamp allowing her to read the words on the page in front of her. With every word, every vivid description of a horrible science, Phoenix grew more and more fearful.

She found the Doctor's initial analysis of her, the notes taken before he had undertaken his horrible experimentation, before the serum had even touched her. Her hands traced over the name of a girl, now long dead. Phoenix couldn't bear to read anymore about her past self, and turned the page.

" _F_ _inally I have found the correct formula. It has been exactly 24 hours since Subject 7 received treatment and has responded positively. Signs are already showing of super accelerated brain activity and the subject has begun to show unique abilities almost instantly. The subject has been appropriately named Phoenix."_

That was all she was, nothing but a subject of experimentation. Phoenix nearly slammed the book shut, but something willed her to keep reading. Phoenix could see that the Doctor had underlined the words _correct formula_ in red. Phoenix knew, by some miracle of memory, that this meant the answers were at the very back of the book, within the leather skin of the journal itself.

Phoenix retrieved a knife, and cut at the bounds of the leather, pulling out several folded pieces of paper. She tossed the knife to the side and unfolded the paper with shaking hands. She began to read the words that caused her whole world to collapse in on itself.

She wanted to burn the paper, tear it to shreds. But she refused to act on her anger, she refused to allow any more unspoken victory for Loki. Instead, she took the paper, and the journal, and left her room. She searched feverently, and eventually, came upon the right room.

Bella opened the door, wearing a t-shirt and pajama shorts, immediately concerned when she saw the expression on Phoenix's face. She saw Phoenix holding the journal and immediately figured out the situation. She opened the door wide and gestured for Phoenix to come in.

She did, and the second Bella closed the door, she started talking. "It's worse than we thought," Phoenix told her, holding out the paper that contained the formula for the serum.

Bella took the piece of paper and began to read aloud. "I have called this chemical component HLX-137, and it comprises the majority of my serum. It's existence is truly a miracle. Found buried with mysterious artefacts, not of this world, and a strange corpse, a blue creature that fell from the heavens as the legends say. This, combined with the fact there is nothing like it on earth, indicates that the HLX-137 compound is from…from an alien world."

"We aren't human," Phoenix spoke when Bella had finished reading.

"It doesn't matter, Phoenix," Bella shook her head. "Redfern already confirmed that we weren't totally human. This means nothing. The serum has adapted to our genes, it's a part of us now. It doesn't hurt us, or change anything about who we are. It doesn't matter if we're human or not."

"It does matter," Phoenix argued, staring at Bella with hopeless eyes. "How am I meant to prove that I'm human when my genes themselves are telling me that I'm not. All the evidence is saying that I'm a freak, a monster. How am I meant to argue with that when I know it's true?"

"You aren't a monster," Bella affirmed, her lower lip trembling as tears began to fall from her eyes.

"Yes I am," Phoenix threw her hands in the air. "You know what I've done, what kind of Inhuman acts I've committed. I've killed innocent people, and if that's not the act of a monster I don't know what is."

"People that are completely human have killed people for far worse reasons than you did," Bella spoke firmly. "You are not just the product of some experimental serum. I know who you are, I've seen who you are first hand, so when I say that you have one of the purest hearts I've ever known, I'm not lying."

Neither of them were aware that they had gravitated so close to each other until there no more than a foot of distance between them. Bella closed the gap, stepping forward, she brushed Phoenix's hair behind her ears, and gently stroked her cheeks.

"Good people are like candles, they burn themselves up to give others light," Bella murmured. "Just a random inspirational quote I saw on the internet, but ever time I look at you, I always remember it. Because that's who you are, not a monster, or an alien, just someone trying to do good in the world."

Phoenix lowered her head, touching her forehead gently against Bella's. "How did this happen?" she asked quietly, raising her hands to place them on Bella's hips. "How did I get so lucky?"

"Trust me, you're not lucky," Bella joked, smirking up at Phoenix. "You're going to have to put up with all my annoying habits. Including, but not limited to; snoring really loudly, demanding ridiculous amounts of affection, texting you at 3AM when I can't sleep, and don't forget stealing everything you own and claiming it as my own."

Phoenix kissed her, cutting her off before she could list anymore bad habits. "I don't care," Phoenix told her, pulling their lips apart only briefly, before Bella reciprocated the kiss with equal passion.


	22. Epilogue: The Finale

**A/N: I can't believe it. This is officially the end of the series. It's been such a long and emotional ride, I can't believe I first wrote this story all the way back in 2013, and I also can't believe how far Phoenix has come. When I first started writing this story, I didn't intend for it to be the last in the series, but along the way I realised I would have to draw the series to a close with this third and final story. BUT, this isn't the end of Phoenix. For a long time, I've felt restricted in my stories because of the way I've tried to align myself with the MCU cannon. I plan to reinvent the character of Phoenix, and all the Experiments in a completely new, and original story that I will post on Wattpad. I can't give an approximate date for when this will happen, because right now, I'm in my final year of high school and I want to focus on my studies and the High School Certificate Exams of October this year. When Phoenix does return in her own story, I will be sure to let you all know. I'm being serious with my promises this time guys. ****To every single person that left a review, that followed or favourited my story, your constant support has helped me so much over the years and I can't thank you enough for everything you've done for me. For the last time in the Phoenix series, don't forget to read, review and enjoy.**

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Early the next morning, The Experiments had to be transferred to a new location.

Before they left, Phoenix managed to find Wanda and led her aside to speak with her privately. The two exchanged polite thanks to each other for what they had both done, Phoenix even calling Wanda an honorary member of The Experiments.

Since the group were unable to stay at the New Avengers Facility any longer, Clint came to the rescue and offered to take them in, and several hours after they left the facility, they arrived at the Barton farm. Laura was waiting for them on the porch of the house, triumphantly standing underneath a Happy Birthday banner.

Heather's delight was unmistakable when she saw the banner, and immediately sped over to Laura to hug her gratefully. Phoenix watched her friend walk side by side with Laura as they moved indoors and smiled. Heather had adjusted to her telepathy easier than Phoenix had expected. This morning, she had awoken with no one's thoughts in her head. She had told Phoenix it was the best possible birthday present she could've received.

Somehow, in the span of four hours, Laura had managed to prepare a full scale birthday party for Heather, which included balloons, streamers and even a cake. Laura kept apologising for the party being to childish, but Heather refused her apologies, and was delighted by the effort Laura had undertaken.

Phoenix and Bella were glued to each other's sides the whole day, a fact that no one was able to overlook. Except for Clint, who tried his best to pretend nothing was happening, but was forced to address the situation when Josh began loudly discussing their relationship nickname. His only response, was to mutter something about having 'the talk' with Phoenix later.

The party came to a halt however, when Natasha gathered The Experiments after dinner, sitting them in conference setting around the dining table. It had been a while since Natasha and Clint had gathered the group in one area, the situation gave them a shocking reminder of how they had been before they became a team.

"As of right now, the six of you are technically homeless," Natasha informed them. "Jorge has asked that you be removed from his legal guardianship, and has also demanded that you vacate his home in Charlotte. With some masterful skill, I managed to convince him to let you return tomorrow and collect your belongings, but we need to organise a new arrangement for you."

"So what are our options?" Phoenix asked.

"Well, Bella, Mark and as of today, Heather, are all 18 years of age," Clint noted, gesturing to the three 18 year olds. "So you don't need legal guardianship anymore, you can live on your own. But the real question is, whether or not you want to continue this line of work. By that, I mean missions and assignments."

Phoenix turned to The Experiments. "What do you want?" she asked their opinion. "Do you want this life?"

The table was quiet, and remained quiet for an eerie amount of time. Eventually, when one of The Experiments started shaking their head, the rest joined in. Phoenix nodded, clearly disappointed, but not surprised. She looked up at Natasha, a faint smile.

"Maybe it's time that I stopped doing this," Phoenix spoke, surprising everyone in the room. "I don't want to be the person the world saw saving a city from an explosion. I think, after all this time, I should just have a normal life for a change."

Natasha nodded, clearly happy with Phoenix's answer. Bella however, seemed concerned, and grabbed Phoenix's arm. "What about our team?" she asked fearfully.

"That won't go away," Phoenix said firmly. "We'll never stop being The Experiments, this is just us deciding to go on as an ordinary group of friends."

"Mostly ordinary," Heather quipped. "Slightly alien, but mostly ordinary. The more I think about it, the more we should star in a sitcom."

Bella and Phoenix had shared the details of their genes with the others of course, but they reacted the same way as Bella. They all knew that it didn't matter what they were, and it didn't change who they were.

"We could live together in a house, like a co-ed fraternity," Sam began to grow excited with the idea. "We've all graduated high school, so technically, university is the next stop."

Phoenix made a face. "I barely passed high school, I wouldn't be able to make it through university."

"You can be the one dropout friend who does nothing with their life, and has about two dollars to their name," Josh suggested. "Every group of friends has one, it's perfect."

Bella leaned across the table and smacked his upside the head, prompting laughter from the group. Natasha silenced them by holding up her hands, trying to fight the smile on her face as she listened to the Experiments discuss their futures like normal teenagers.

"Actually, Phoenix is technically a millionaire," Natasha informed them, causing Phoenix's mouth to drop open in surprise. She tried to ask Natasha what she meant, but kept stuttering. "The Doctor had no living relatives, and Fury changed a few things around so you stand as the sole inheritor of everything Blake owned. I wasn't sure how you felt about inheriting his fortune, so I never said anything."

Phoenix's head was in her hands as she tried processing the information, but Mark was jumping up and down excitedly in his chair. "We can blow the old bastard's fortune on a college education, I bet he would scream at us from the pits of hell for that."

"Ok," Phoenix finally managed to find her words. "But what about you and Clint?"

Natasha shrugged. "I don't control you Phoenix, no one does," Natasha told her. "Isn't that right Clint?"

Clint mumbled a little, but spoke up when Natasha cleared her throat. "You're practically my kid Phoenix, which makes it hard for me to relinquish control," Clint confessed. "But you go ahead and do what you want to do. But I expect regular calls, and visits."

"Well then," Phoenix sighed, directing her attention to the Experiments. "All of you will have to help me look for somewhere to live, I don't know anything about real estate."

"You got it boss," Josh saluted.

"All of you can stay here in the meantime," Clint offered. "But the living space will be cramped, there's only one bathroom, and I expect lots of chores as payment for my gracious hospitality."

The Experiments laughed, before they continued to discuss the possibilities of what would come next for them. Natasha was barely paying attention, looking back on how Phoenix had been when she first found her. The girl in front of her now, was a totally different person, and she couldn't help but feel proud of how far she had come. From when she had wanted to kill herself because she thought her only purpose was to serve Doctor Blake, to a girl who was talking about a future outside of The Avengers, SHIELD and the dangerous world that had threatened to trap her in once place from the very beginning.

She had died, she had burned, and she had risen anew. Just like a Phoenix.


End file.
